Sunday, December 02, 2018

Burton - Saturday night supper: World order may have changed before our eyes

Burton - Saturday night supper: World order may have changed before our eyes

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-saturday-night-supper-world-order-may-have-changed-before-our-eyes/

"This does not bode well for nations like Canada. Ottawa’s failure to have China stave the flow of fentanyl into Canada, juxtaposed with Canada’s postured outrage to get U.S. tariffs lifted from our steel and aluminum exports, are from an obsolete playbook. Earnest Canadian appeals to trust, goodwill and friendship don’t work with Mr. Xi or Mr. Trump, neither of whom has much time for our Prime Minister these days."

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Burton - Ottawa’s pursuit of free trade with China is a losing proposition

Ottawa’s pursuit of free trade with China is a losing proposition

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-ottawas-pursuit-of-free-trade-with-china-is-a-losing-proposition/

We lag behind other Western nations in responding to PRC state agents’ intimidation of ethnic Chinese, Uyghurs and Tibetans in Canada. Canada is showing no sign of adopting legislative measures or enhancing CSIS and RCMP resources to meet the Chinese Communist challenge to our sovereignty and its designs to corrode our democracy by closing the space between government and business.



Friday, August 17, 2018

Opinion piece in the Globe and Mail - "Burton: Canada is caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China trade war"

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-is-caught-in-the-crossfire-of-the-us-china-trade-war/

"There is a consensus among many Chinese that President Xi Jinping and his predecessors have caused China to seriously lose face, especially now that the United States has exposed Beijing’s dishonourable trade policies. This violates the core Confucian teaching that upholding honesty and openness is the mark of cultured, upright government officials."

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Burton: China should stick to honesty as the best policy in ongoing U.S. trade war

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-china-should-stick-to-honesty-as-the-best-policy-in-ongoing-us-trade/

Monday, April 02, 2018

Burton: A successful Trump-Kim summit would be a thorn in China’s side

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-a-successful-trump-kim-summit-would-be-a-thorn-in-chinas-side/

"With uber-hawk John Bolton as incoming U.S. national security adviser, the Japanese fear is that if the Kim-Trump summit fails, the next step will be war. Mr. Bolton has said talks with North Korea are useless, and that protecting the U.S. from North Korean missiles is job one, regardless of collateral consequences for the South, Japan or, for that matter, China and Russia."

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Burton - China’s drive to restore its lost greatness - Toronto Star

China’s drive to restore its lost greatness

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2018/03/29/chinas-drive-to-restore-its-lost-greatness.html

"Most alarming to Ottawa was the news that the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, responsible for promoting China’s influence around the world, will be restructured and beefed up. Xi characterizes it as the party’s “magic weapon,” and indeed its activity in Western countries has increasingly been seen as a covert, coercive or corrupt tool for China’s foreign interests."

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

United Front Work Department getting more resources as expected

It’s the covert unit behind China’s growing global influence. And it’s getting bigger https://sc.mp/2IFZnr8

Friday, March 02, 2018

Asan Special Forum Dialogue 1: China’s Intervention in New Zealand and Canada

Asan Special Forum 2018
The Asan Institute for Policy Studies cordially invites you to the first dialogue of the Asan Special Forum: China's Intervention in New Zealand and Canada on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.

This dialogue series, leading to articles in The Asan Forum, will focus on China’s intervention into the internal affairs of four democratic countries: New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South Korea. Leading experts will examine the various arenas of interference, the actual nature of the interference, and the ongoing responses to the interference.
Program
Asan Special Forum Dialogue 1:
China’s Intervention in New Zealand and Canada

Thursday, March 8 ​| 10:00-11:30am

Location:
The Asan Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC 20036
Speakers
Anne-Marie Brady is a Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. She is a specialist in Chinese domestic and foreign policy as well as polar politics.
Charles Burton is an Associate Professor at Brock University specializing in Comparative Politics, Government and Politics of China, Canada-China Relations, and Human Rights. Dr. Burton served as Counsellor at the Canadian Embassy to China from 1991 to 1993 and 1998 to 2000. 
Gilbert Rozman taught at Princeton University from 1970 to 2013. He now serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Asan Forum, an online journal on the international relations of the Asia-Pacific region. His writings bridge sociology, history, and political science, concentrating on the states of Northeast Asia.
*Registration is required to attend this event.

The Economist Cover Article on China and the West is Well Worth Reading

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21737558-clear-thinking-and-united-front-are-needed-they-may-not-be-forthcoming-decades

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Asan Special Forum 2018 "China's Intervention in New Zealand and Canada" March 8 in Washington, DC

Join us at the Asan Special Forum 2018. Leading scholars will discuss China's intervention into the internal affairs of New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and South Korea. https://t.co/BYULd1TOBs @theasanforum @rosenbergerlm @Anne_MarieBrady @cburton001 https://t.co/lfVaEWYJ09



Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Burton: Canada must smarten up on its China policy

"When former officials enrich themselves with Beijing’s money, once they’re no longer managing China-related policy, it raises huge questions about whether these people had been compromised in defending Canada’s national interests vis-à-vis China while in office. A post-retirement second career, trading on their China-related “friendships” cultivated in government service, is just not OK.
Multi-ethnic nations such as Canada should encourage citizens of Chinese origin to seek political office; we need legislatures that reflect our diversity. But the sole legitimate function of a politician is to serve the purposes of their nation of citizenship. Any politicians with divided loyalties who spend a lot of time in China for vaguely defined purposes should not have a voice in policymaking impinging on the interests of China in Canada.
And, obviously, Canadian political parties should not be accepting funding from foreign sources, indirectly or otherwise. Most Western nations’ think tanks that advise on China relations routinely accept funding from China-related sources. And our media often provide an influential platform to apologist pundits whose grants and China travel are on Beijing’s dime through “exchanges.”
Canada indeed urgently needs a lot more expertise on China so we can better realize our interests with that country, but we should pay for it ourselves."

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

My Opinion Piece in Globe and Mail: "The Vancouver summit: Advantage, China"

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-vancouver-summit-advantage-china/article37637846/

"As Mr. Tillerson emphasized, "the purpose of the maximum pressure campaign is intended to cause North Korea to engage as a credible negotiating partner in addressing a pathway to a denuclearization of the peninsula." Of course, the people who will feel the deepest pain of this maximum pressure are the most vulnerable of North Korea's population. Malnourished children will have less to eat, while the sick and elderly lose access to life-giving medicines.

In the unlikely event that North Korea's economy can be seriously destabilized by genuinely effective international sanctions this time, what is the more likely outcome? It's hard to imagine Kim Jung-un surrendering his nuclear weapons, thus undercutting his hold on power and ultimately leading to his going before International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. A more plausible response is even more frenzied brandishing of his nuclear arsenal, threatening the unthinkable in order to save himself from the humiliation of a trial followed by a lifetime of incarceration in the Hague."