By Elishya Perera
MONTRÉAL, Québec (CWBN)_Canada’s defence minister Harjit Sajjan said that China’s refusal to play by the rules, as well as Beijing’s assertive foreign policy, have caused “significant” concerns in Canada and other Western democracies.
During an interview with The Canadian Press on Thursday (Dec 17), the Minister noted that Beijing’s growing footprint around the world, especially by providing financial assistance to governments across Asia, Africa and Latin America, has set off red flags in Ottawa and other Western capitals.
“We look at China’s expansion into other parts of the world right now as a concern, based on how they’re dealing with smaller nations in terms of how they provide the support that has created this economic kind of dependency,” he said.
However, smaller countries are not the only ones who are finding it difficult to maintain friendly relations with the communist superpower, as trade tensions between Australia and Beijing continues to grow, following Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for an investigation on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged from Wuhan, China. Subsequently, Beijing slapped Canberra with economic sanctions in retaliation, which has disrupted Australia’s agricultural and resources exports.
Canada’s relations with China previously included co-operation in terms of military and defence, and Chinese troops were permitted to observe Canadian forces during their winter warfare training and other exercises. However, Sajjan noted that such co-operation was suspended following the arrest of the two Canadians in Beijing.
Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, known as the two Michaels, were arbitrarily detained by Chinese authorities in 2018, in apparent retaliation to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese Huawei official in Vancouver, on a US extradition request. The Canadian defence minister noted that detention of the two Canadians was a testament to China flouting international rules, norms and treaties.
“The unpredictability that China has been showing the world – not just to Canada – is giving all of us significant concern,” he said. “When a country arrests two Canadians, it is not a message to Canada, it is a message to the rest of the world saying: `This is how we will do diplomacy.”
While Sajjan refused to describe the communist regime as an adversary and emphasised the importance of talk and diplomacy when dealing with Beijing, however, he also stressed that Canada and its allies need to be on the same page when it comes to China, in matters of trade, defence, and diplomatic relations.
