Burton: Donald Trump is helping Xi Jinping achieve his grand vision for China

 Donald Trump is helping Xi Jinping achieve his grand vision for China

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-donald-trump-is-helping-xi-jinping-achieve-his-grand-vision-for-china/

In 2012, Xi Jinping declared his “Chinese Dream”: a foreign- policy vision “realizing the great renewal of the Chinese nation is the greatest dream for the Chinese nation in modern history.” By 2050, China would dominate the world through a framework of international relations that Mr. Xi dubs “the community of common destiny for mankind.” But achieving such a tectonic shift would require the U. S. to cease being the guardian of world democracies and of organizations like NATO, the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, which promote justice and global prosperity.
Well, Mr. Trump’s aggressive abandonment of America’s longtime alliances is doing just that. And regardless of tariffs and whatever becomes of MAGA plans for Panama, Gaza, Greenland or Canada, his administration’s abandonment of nearly all soft- power initiatives – from defunding Radio Free Asia to freezing foreign aid – leaves a vacuum that China’s disinformation media ecosystem and Belt and Road initiative will quickly fill.

Burton: China weaponizes death penalty as relations with Canada continue to deteriorate

China weaponizes death penalty as relations with Canada continue to deteriorate  

 

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/china-weaponizes-death-penalty-as-relations-with-canada-continue-to-deteriorate/article_d9d820a9-f9c7-4ed6-928d-f7daca3d2553.html 

A particularly disturbing aspect of these latest killings is the spectre of why they were ordered. Executing four Canadians, while other foreign nationals in Chinese judicial limbo avoid the death penalty, sends a horrifying signal that appears linked to Canada’s compliance with Donald Trump’s demands to bar Chinese EVs from North America.

This, compounded by the Trump administration’s own economic aggression, puts immense pressure on Ottawa to find a resolution with China on the EVs in order to save the livelihoods of Canadian farmers and fishers.

But besides the economic casualties caused by dumping underpriced cars into Canada, the technology-laced Chinese EVs are also security threats, rolling spy stations whose sensors constantly collect information about their drivers and critical infrastructure everywhere the car goes. (In China, Teslas are banned from sensitive areas for exactly this reason.)

In a case of extreme diplomatic tensions, Beijing could order manufacturers to use software updates that disable thousands of EVs across Canada. So, from China’s geostrategic standpoint, the 100-per-cent tariff on EVs is about much more than losing a car sales market in Canada.

 

Burton: Donald Trump has extreme designs on Canada: Here is what he really wants

Burton: Donald Trump has extreme designs on Canada: Here is what he really wants

 

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/donald-trump-has-extreme-designs-on-canada-here-is-what-he-really-wants/article_45edb808-fa07-11ef-a7bc-c79c3785eee7.html 

Deciphering months of his rhetoric, expect demands like unfettered economic participation (U.S. airlines flying our domestic routes?); DOGE-like demolition of food supply management; selling private American health care Canada-wide; U.S. banks in every town (one of his obsessions).

As for grabbing natural resources, think Ukraine. Because wealthier, more populous America has borne most of the cost of North American defence, Trump will demand massive retro-compensation in return for lifting devastating tariffs. No more neighbourhood discount on mutual security, or sharing U.S. intelligence through the Five Eyes alliance.

.  .  .

In the English-language Liberal leadership debate, Mark Carney asserted that the U.S. represents a threat to Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic, warning that Canada’s Arctic is under threat, not just from Russia and China, but “potential U.S. incursions.” 

Is the future of global politics one of Trump collaborating with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in a grand bargain to recast geopolitical power into a mould that benefits Russian oligarchs, American high-tech billionaires and the Chinese communists?