Burton and Therchin Podcast Episode 2: Was Modern China Ever Close to Embracing True Liberalization?
Friday, July 24, 2026
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Burton: Xi or Trump? In the upheaval of world order, Canada calculates its "strategic partnership" with China
Xi or Trump? In the upheaval of world order, Canada calculates its ‘strategic partnership’ with China
At a time when powerful leaders change their narratives and ignore their promises, how much benefit Canada can derive from kowtowing in either Beijing or Washington? Xi and Trump have no qualms about abrogating any agreement or understanding that Canada may think it has with them.
As America grapples to hold its swagger in a volatile geopolitical landscape, Chinese leader Xi Jinping exudes confidence that China is achieving “the community of the common destiny of mankind”, wherein the West’s glory days are past and China assumes global supremacy of “all under Heaven”.
In Ottawa, it was telling that Canadian officials remained silent after the Chinese Ambassador recently threatened Canada could say goodbye to our “strategic partnership” if we continue participating in freedom of naval navigation exercises through the Taiwan Strait.
Burton: How many more times will Beijing fool Canada’s politicians?
How many more times will Beijing fool Canada’s politicians?
When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Canadian counterpart Anita Anand for bilateral talks this spring,
he said our relations must be based on “setting aside differences and
seeking common ground.” But experience shows that Beijing never sets
aside any differences. Rather, China expects Ottawa to simply abandon
any non-trade concerns in return for greater access to the Chinese
market.
In this instance, the carrot was Mr. Wang speculating that if bilateral relations maintain “a momentum of development, and our policies remain stable and positive,” trade could grow 50 or even 100 per cent, “because China will soon become the world’s largest market, and the Chinese market is opening up to Canada more and more.”
When then-Chinese president Hu Jintao visited prime minister Paul Martin in 2005, the leaders elevated relations to a “strategic partnership” and promised to double bilateral trade within five years.
Eleven years later, premier Li Keqiang told then-prime minister Justin Trudeau that China would double trade with Canada by 2025, along with settling a dispute over canola and talks on free trade.
The promises never materialized, and Beijing’s mercantilistic regime – which strictly controls the economy to maximize state wealth and power – will never give Canada access to any significant share of China’s internal markets. Beijing sustains its economy with exports, not imports.
Monday, July 13, 2026
Tohti, McCuaig-Johnston Teich and Burton: How Canada can stand against forced labour in China
How Canada can stand against forced labour in China
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-how-canada-can-stand-against-forced-labour-in-china/
Canada has introduced new, stronger legislation on forced labour in response to the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Section 301 investigation, a pretext for President Donald Trump’s beggar-thy-neighbour tariffs. The USTR found that Canada was not adequately implementing its current legislation.
As a result, 10-per-cent tariffs are threatened on Canadian products not covered by USMCA.
This was an own goal for Canada. Until last year, we were ramping up implementation by developing more rigorous legislation and enforcement. But then the state visit to China was offered and the government started dropping all its forced labour tools.
Bureaucrats drafting new legislation put down their pens. Staff reviewing products from Xinjiang produced with forced labour were told their jobs were being eliminated. Some were redeployed to increasing trade with China. Customs notices directing companies to comply with current legislation dropped mentions of forced labour. Global Affairs Canada no longer mentioned it in its Departmental Plan.
Tohti, McCuaig-Johnston Teich and Burton: Canada is trying to stop importing goods made by forced labour. Here is why it is not working
Canada is trying to stop importing goods made by forced labour. Here is why it is not working
China did not wait for Canada to act. While Ottawa spent six years
allowing goods made with Uyghur forced labour to move largely unhindered
from Xinjiang into Canadian markets, Beijing was building a legal
system designed to punish countries and companies that eventually might
dare to act.
Beijing is betting that six years of near-total enforcement failure are a
reliable guide to Ottawa’s future behaviour. C-35 is the chance to
prove that bet wrong, but only if the Carney government is prepared to
write the one word that every credible Uyghur forced labour policy
requires: Xinjiang.
Burton and Therchin Podcast Episode 01: Understanding China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Law
Episode 01: Understanding China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Law
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Trump going into high stakes summit in China ‘looking weak,' former diplomat Charles Burton on CTV
Trump going into high stakes summit in China ‘looking weak,' former diplomat Charles Burton on CTV
Friday, May 08, 2026
Charles Burton's Statement and Answers at Canadian Commons Science Committee on Concerns Over Imports of Chinese Electric Vehicles on April 20, 2026
Charles Burton's Statement and Answers at Canadian Commons Science Committee on Concerns Over Imports of Chinese Electric Vehicles on April 20, 2026
Charles Burton's Statement and Answers at Canadian Commons Procedure Committee on Proposed Amendments to Canada Elections Act to Better Counter Chinese Covert Interference on May 7, 2026
Charles Burton's Statement and Answers at Canadian Commons Procedure Committee on Proposed Amendments to Canada Elections Act to Better Counter Chinese Covert Interference on May 7, 2026
Sunday, April 05, 2026
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Burton: A Canadian’s Past, Present and Future with China
A Canadian’s Past, Present and Future with China
https://www.cips-cepi.ca/2026/03/10/a-canadians-past-present-and-future-with-china/For decades, the assumption in Ottawa was that economic and institutional engagement would inevitably lead to political liberalization. We operated on the sincere, naive belief that by sharing our democratic values, the Chinese Communist Party would naturally liberalize. That hope was systematically dismantled. As Xi Jinping ascended to paramount leadership, it became undeniably clear that the regime never intended to reform. Instead, they weaponized our openness to modernize their economy and strengthen their totalitarian grip. The ultimate confirmation of Beijing’s hostility toward those speaking the truth came when I was formally sanctioned by the PRC in December 2024.
Given the current political trajectory, decisive action seems unlikely. Beijing wouldn’t approve, and the grim reality is that a generation of politically connected Canadian business elites and the corporate lawyers who facilitate their deals have become spontaneously beholden to the Chinese regime’s geostrategic interests. They are desperate to return to “business as usual,” doing so at a terminal cost to Canadian national security and our fundamental sovereignty.
When our leaders assess what they are willing to trade away for the transactional promise of market access, they would do well to remember the wisdom of St. Matthew: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Burton: There’s a blur around our Foreign Interference Transparency Commissioner
There’s a blur around our Foreign Interference Transparency Commissioner
Is the Government’s actual plan to have a Transparency Commission that is weak, compliant and underfund, and undercut its independence by having the new Foreign Interference Coordinator control who gets listed on the Foreign Influence Registry?
The fear is that Mr. Boegman will end up being a figurehead, more active in issuing information bulletins and updates than exposing figures who help promote the agendas of Beijing and Moscow in Canada — and receive benefits for doing so.
Many people will be watching to ensure Mr. Boegman flourishes in his job. Canadians have long been clamouring for a transparency registry. They will want to be certain that it is be being properly used to protect our national security.
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