Tony Clement talks with Dr. Charles Burton about his new book " The
Beaver & The Dragon, Canada–China tensions & key insights. "
Shorter version:
https://youtu.be/uJEEx6R-jpM?si=1ZnLrhrMhYu3PsNs
Thursday, December 11, 2025
Tony Clement talks with Dr. Charles Burton about his new book " The Beaver & The Dragon, Canada–China tensions & key insights"
Wednesday, November 05, 2025
Burton: Canada-China relations are about more than business
Burton: Canada-China relations are about more than business
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-canada-china-relations-are-about-more-than-business/Mr. Carney, in subordinate mode, echoed the Chinese messaging, promising “pragmatic and constructive” engagement. “Constructive and pragmatic” is specific Beijing propaganda code. What it means is, in return for access to our markets, you shall not voice criticism of Chinese actions that violate international norms.
That would include Canada perhaps ignoring situations like China’s interference in Canada’s democratic processes or its intimidation of Chinese Canadians and permanent residents.
Internationally, this may mean Canada does not challenge China over its policy regarding Hong Kong, Taiwan and the South China Sea or Beijing’s practice of providing surveillance technology to repressive autocrats to suppress democratic forces.
We should assume that Canada would no longer speak out about China’s policies of genocide against Uyghurs or its violation of the language, cultural and religious rights of Tibetans and other ethnicities.
But it was Mr. Carney’s final words before the leaders went into their meeting that were most revealing: “We will establish a road to seize the many great opportunities between our countries and also to have the platform that’s needed for the dialogue to help build a more sustainable and inclusive international system.”
“A more sustainable and inclusive international system” is Beijing’s favoured terminology to describe China’s planned new world order, which it calls “the community of the common destiny of mankind,” which it sees as buttressing its rise as global hegemon, supplanting a fading Uncle Sam.
China has already mapped out the rising and falling of empires. They plan a world that abandons the liberal democratic principles of the postwar United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international law against genocide and torture and the equal sovereignty of nations.
Sunday, November 02, 2025
Canadian Sinologist Recounts ‘Hectic Getaway’ From Shanghai After Questioning by Chinese Secret Police
Canadian Sinologist Recounts ‘Hectic Getaway’ From Shanghai After Questioning by Chinese Secret Police
In December 2024 my absence was no longer self-imposed when I, along
with 19 other individuals and two Canadian organizations, were banned
from entering China. I was on the list because I had acted as an advisor
for a Canada-based human-rights group, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy
Project (although I qualified to make the list twice due to my similar
association with the Canada Tibet Committee).
After our banishment was posted on a government website, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled newspaper The Global Times reported that we were exiled for offences that included “spreading disinformation” about human-rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and in Tibet. (PRC official propaganda has recently started to refer to Tibet by its name in romanized Chinese, Xizang, meaning literally “western treasury.” It is politically motivated subterfuge to downplay that Tibet has been the ancestral land of Tibetans since long before the Han Chinese invaded the territory.)
The Chinese official statement reads:
“Canada’s actions are an attempt to use human-rights issues in Xinjiang and Xizang to enhance its international presence and strengthen its influence in global diplomacy and ideological discourse.”
So, unlike my sanctioning by Russia in 2022, China did not ban me because of what I have published in newspapers. It was a response to Canada’s China policy in general.
When I began placing opinion pieces in Canadian newspapers nearly 20 years ago, many Canadians were confident that China could become a responsible stakeholder in world affairs. Canada under Justin Trudeau came close to collaborating with China in international affairs, including transnational crime, even considering an extradition treaty. We also came close to integrating our economies through a free-trade deal.
But, as the commentary articles recount, as China became more powerful economically, it began posing a hostile geostrategic threat to the international rules-based order.
China’s current leadership sees Donald Trump as fulfilling Xi Jinping’s prediction that the United States is a power in decline — that the vacuum created by American nationalism will be filled by China — and that Xi’s “Community of the Common Destiny of Mankind” will become the future global order.
China thus assumes what Mr. Xi considers its rightful role as the dominant global civilization, with Chinese even displacing English as the world’s foremost common language. Under Xi’s vision, Canadians would realize that a political system based on China’s authoritarian model, and on its superior civilization informed by Confucianism, is Canada’s best option for political, economic and social development. Canada would become a subsidiary economy to China’s centre of global industrial production and infrastructure.
Burton: I’ve spent 50 years navigating Canada-China relations. Here’s what I’ve learned
Burton: I’ve spent 50 years navigating Canada-China relations. Here’s what I’ve learned
As a sinologist and a writer, I have in the past two decades published
more than 200 newspaper articles that observe high-profile milestones
and flashpoints, but also the nuances, complexities and tensions of
China’s relations with the west.
Arriving in Britain shortly after the death of Mao, I began learning to speak and read Chinese at Cambridge. As my command of Mandarin continued to grow, I decided I would be better off continuing my studies in China. I applied to the Canada-China Scholars’ Exchange Program, and was accepted to study ancient Chinese philosophy at Fudan University.
I arrived in China at a good moment, historically speaking. After 10 years of fear and distrust during the Cultural Revolution, my cohort at Fudan was the first to be selected based on competitive entrance exams. These would be the most formative and fascinating years of my life.
Life in Building Four dorm meant being in close company with earnest students 24/7, sharing the same space, eating the same food. None of my roommates had ever had contact with any non-Chinese before meeting me, but I was welcomed without reservation to assimilate into their society. In Chinese culture, this means an unbreakable friendship for life and an iron obligation to loyalty. Some of my dorm mates became senior officials in the Communist régime while others emigrated to the U.S., but to this day the bond of our shared past overcomes all.
Mr. Xi contends that China will achieve universal prosperity by 2035 and will be the planet’s undisputed power by 2050, thus rectifying perceived past humiliations of being subordinated by Japan and the west, and realizing Mr. Xi’s vision of a China-led “community of the common destiny of mankind.”
When Mr. Xi’s regime looks at resource-rich Canada, it sees a remote region “under Heaven” rather than a sovereign nation with some inalienable right to control its own territory and domestic affairs.
For China, the message to Canadians is clear: America is the past and China is the future, so we must get on the right track. Canada had better realize the rewards are great for complying with China’s political agenda, including its claim over Taiwan and military expansion in the East and South China Seas. Resistance is futile, and even the slightest opposition will have disastrous consequences for Canada’s economy.
Burton: How should Canada deal with authoritarian dictators?
Burton: How should Canada deal with authoritarian dictators?
Canada had a notably large delegation attend China’s National Day celebrations in
Ottawa last month, including Jennifer May, Canada’s ambassador to China. At one
point, Canada’s Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs David Morrison, responded to
remarks from Wang Di, the Chinese ambassador to Canada, effusing that, “This is
an excellent time to reflect on the remarkable journey China has undertaken.
China’s rich cultural heritage, its impressive achievements in development,
innovation and global engagement and the resilience and spirit of the Chinese.”
“The warm words of the ambassador tonight have echoed those of Prime Minister
Carney who has made very clear that his desire to recalibrate Canada-China
relations, and to advance our bilateral ties in a pragmatic and constructive manner.”
In contrast, the Chinese ambassador’s tone was menacing.
“Whenever both sides stick to the principle of right perception, mutual respect,
seeking common ground while putting aside differences and the mutual benefit,
the bilateral relations will move forward smooth and achieve fruitful outcomes,”
said Wang. “Whenever the preceding code is not followed, the bilateral
relations will take a blow or even derail.”
“Seeking common ground while putting aside difference” is Beijing’s standard code
for “we’ll do this our way.” In other words, if Canada wants access to China’s vast
markets, there will be silence around such topics as human rights, the Uyghur
genocide, interference in Canadian democracy, suppression of dissent in Hong
Kong, military threats to Taiwan, expansionist claims in the South China Sea and so
on.
At the Ottawa event, the message had already been heard loud and clear. When
Morrison referenced Carney’s desire to advance bilateral ties “in a pragmatic and
constructive manner,” the phrase “pragmatic and constructive” is the exact wording
that Chinese state media use when urging pro-China foreign policies from Western
nations. Morrison indicated that Canada is prepared to accept the Chinese
requirement that we “put aside differences.”
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Monday, September 15, 2025
Burton: This is what Canada should do in a world of bullies
Burton: This is what Canada should do in a world of bullies
Last month, Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece, the Global Times, published a Chinese Communist Party statement about the August meeting of the China-Canada Joint Economic and Trade Commission (quietly held in Ottawa, while Parliament was on summer recess). Headlined “China willing to work with Canada to expand trade and economic co-operation: senior Chinese official,” the report says China wants “Canada to take immediate steps to correct its erroneous practices,” and “maintain policy autonomy” (from the United States), and take “constructive approaches and pragmatic actions to manage differences.”
In other words, Canada should ease restrictions on Chinese access to sensitive technologies and natural resources (especially critical minerals) and not expel diplomats whose function is to intimidate Canadians of Hong Kong origin. Based on the Beijing regime’s well-worn track record, China would not agree to do anything different in response to Canada’s concerns.
Curiously, in another speech last week, Xi seemed to suggest China might be turning over a new leaf in international behaviour, promising to “fully, comprehensively, and completely adhere to the universally recognized basic norms governing international relations, including the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and ensure the equal and uniform application of international law and international rules.”
Recognizing the UN Charter and international rules? Is Xi suddenly becoming everything that Trump isn’t? It was a ploy. Both speeches concluded with Xi’s “common destiny of mankind” trope, where China takes its place at the helm of the world.
Friday, September 12, 2025
Friday, August 08, 2025
Burton: Can Canada work with China’s Xi Jinping for real mutual benefit?
Can Canada work with China’s Xi Jinping for real mutual benefit?
https://www.ipolitics.ca/2025/08/08/can-canada-work-with-chinas-xi-jinping-for-real-mutual-benefit/
When today’s Xi regime looks at Canada it sees a remote and resource-rich region “under Heaven,” rather than a sovereign nation with some inalienable right to control its own territory and domestic affairs.
Beijing’s message to Canada is clear: America is the past and China is the future, so get on the right track. Canada had better realize the rewards are great for complying with China’s political agenda, including its claim over Taiwan and military expansion in the East and South China Seas. Resistance is futile, and even the slightest opposition will have disastrous consequences for Canada’s economy.
Wednesday, August 06, 2025
Burton: Is China a better trading partner than Trump’s America?
Is China a better trading partner than Trump’s America?
There are increasing signs that Mark Carney’s cabinet, which is anxiously trying to mend our crumbling alliance with the United States, is quietly pursuing a major policy shift in Canada’s relations with China.
Foreign Minister Anita Anand reinforced the notion after meeting with her Asian counterparts in Malaysia in early July. “It is important for us to revisit our policy – not only in the Indo-Pacific but generally speaking – to ensure that we are focusing not only on the values that we have historically adhered to,” she said.
“Foreign policy is an extension of domestic interest and particularly domestic economic interests,” she added. “This is a time when the global economy is under stress.”
When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met recently in Beijing with Xi Jinping, the Chinese Leader made the standard comment that Western nations dealing with China should “seek common ground while setting aside differences.” Mr. Albanese actually concurred, saying, “That approach has indeed produced very positive benefits for both Australia and for China.”
Unfortunately the “differences” that Mr. Xi talks about result in harms to Canada, not China. For Ottawa, the price of enhanced trade would be dear: Let China mine critical minerals in Canada’s North, give open access to Canadian high tech and dual-use military technologies, abandon implementing a foreign influence transparency registry, accept China’s incursions in the Canadian Arctic, and cease Canada’s modest freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. And those are just for starters.
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
The Beaver and the Dragon new book by Charles Burton now available for pre-order on Amazon
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0888903715?ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_mwn_dp_FQKHSFAQES2Q04RMSCNQ&bestFormat=true&dplnkId=36d939e5-cb58-4621-ae87-ae5063dde7df&dplnkId=2355c8f1-ea7c-49b2-9f40-6062637994d7
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