Burton: Opening Statement to Canadian House of Commons International Trade Committee on February 26, 2026

 

Burton: The Illusion of “Beneficial” Relations Ottawa’s Latest Capitulation to Beijing

 Burton: The Illusion of “Beneficial” Relations Ottawa’s Latest Capitulation to Beijing

https://therealstory.substack.com/p/the-illusion-of-beneficial-relations?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2hy34d&triedRedirect=true

So, what is China’s actual motive in wanting to send a delegation of ersatz “parliamentarians” to Canada?

It is, of course, a classic United Front operational tactic: an opportunity to identify and curry favour with Canadian policymakers who might serve as promising targets for future influence. The broader, more insidious purpose is to promote the illusion that China is a legitimate nation-state with a legislature that serves as a moral and political equivalent to Canada’s democratic parliament.

China’s national constitution makes the ridiculous claim that this utterly impotent NPC is the “supreme organ of state power.” Try telling that to the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau, where Xi Jinping’s true regime authority resides.

The bottom line is that the Canada-China Legislative Association is a Communist Party United Front Work Department proxy agency. It serves the Chinese regime’s geostrategic purposes, and Canadian taxpayers are footing half the bill.

Burton: China’s political roiling is getting attention here in Canada - iPolitics

Burton: China’s political roiling is getting attention here in Canada - iPolitics

https://www.ipolitics.ca/2026/02/13/chinas-political-roiling-is-getting-attention-here-in-canada/

Whatever is really going on with Xi’s grip on power (and officials in Washington and elsewhere are watching very closely), the glaring fundamental barrier between Beijing and the West remains the incompatibility between the absolute authority of China’s Communist Party and the societal accountability of democratic institutions — including Canada’s.

This is not simply a case of divergent opinions over human rights or the role of sovereignty in relations between nations. Before we even begin negotiating the details of diplomatic or trade agreements, seeing the Canada-China relationship as a “strategic partnership” first requires us to believe that we can have reciprocal, fair state-to-state relations.

And that requires buying into a myth, not reality.

Burton on CTV News: With a death sentence in China overturned, could Robert Schellenberg receive a trial in Canada?