CN Insect Queen (Huawei exec) arrested by Canada - The China hive is swarming mad

HeyYou · Sep 23, 2019

A decade ago, Fadden caused an uproar when -- as head of the national spy agency -- he sounded an alarm on China, saying lobbyists operating out of its diplomatic missions were funding pro-Beijing cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes. He also said at least two provincial ministers and some municipal politicians in British Columbia -- home to the highest proportion of ethnic Chinese in Canada -- were believed to be under the sway of a foreign government.

A backlash ensued, with a parliamentary committee demanding his resignation. A decade later, those comments appear prescient: New Brunswick is shutting down Confucius Institutes at 28 schools after the provincial education minister called their curriculum “propaganda.” Last October, three British Columbia municipalities, including Vancouver, investigated allegations of vote buying after a pro-Beijing group offered a C$20 “transportation allowance” to encourage voting for ethnic-Chinese candidates.

Yep, China totally doesn't meddle in western countries, nope!

Ginger Piglet · Sep 23, 2019

X Prime said:
This sort of thing is actually mentioned in Poorly Made in China by a Chinese-American who works there.

They generally operate off of a form of consensus reality. What that means is that, say, if you go to a hotel there and your toilet is broken, the staff will try to convince you that it's totally fine, under the belief that thinking that makes it so.

They literally do not believe in holding up contracts because of this.

Say you make a product held in a plastic container. What the manufacturer will do is slowly make the container thinner and thinner, imperceptibly, until the container breaks. When you call them out on not following the contract, they simply say they can increase the amount of plastic used in the container for a price increase.

You absolutely must read that book if you want to really see and understand why doing business with them is a nightmare.

I've heard about this. It sounds like the same sort of mentality that responds to "working conditions in your iPhone sweatshop are so awful people are committing suicide by leaping off the roof" with "install safety net." Like a cross between consensus reality and Confucian "harmonious society when everything is in its proper place" worldviews.

I think I will get my hands on it. To Amazon!

TaimuRadiu · Sep 24, 2019

Syaoran Li said:
So, not only is China run by a totalitarian and technocratic regime, but the Chinese people are believing in consensus reality?

It seems to me that the CCP's ruling elites are fans of Mage: The Ascension and are trying to make it reality, with them as the evil and all-powerful Technocracy.

Of course, China is already bleaker than the World of Darkness.

You're actually thinking of 1984.

Syaoran Li · Sep 24, 2019

TaimuRadiu said:
You're actually thinking of 1984.

True. Orwell did it first, but as a White Wolf fan, I couldn't resist making that joke.

PS1gamenwatch · Sep 28, 2019

Canada could take a harder stance on China — no matter who wins the next election

Canada has been caught between its two largest trading partners as the U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war that's lasted more than a year.

www.cnbc.com

Canada will take a harder stance on China — no matter who wins the next election
PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 27 2019 12:08 AM EDTUPDATED FRI, SEP 27 2019 12:20 AM EDT

Grace Shao @GRACEMZSHAO

KEY POINTS

The federal election for the top job in Canada will take place on October 21.

“Whoever is elected will have to take a tougher stance. Public opinion (in Canada) has shifted significantly against China’s favor,” said Lynette Ong, associate professor at the University of Toronto’s department of political science and Asian institute.

Canada has been caught between its two largest trading partners as the U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war that’s lasted more than a year.

A man walks past flags of Canada and China in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, 21 October 2003, hoisted ahead of a four-day official visit by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images
No matter who takes the top job in Canada at the next elections, the new government will likely have to take a harder line on China, analysts say.
“Whoever is elected will have to take a tougher stance. Public opinion (in Canada) has shifted significantly against China’s favor,” said Lynette Ong, associate professor at the University of Toronto’s department of political science and Asian institute.
Voting day on Oct. 21

Canadians head to the polls on October 21 to elect a new federal government.
Opposition leader, the Conservative Party’s Andrew Scheer, is starting to pull ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is also the Liberal leader, some polls show.

There is no question that Washington is putting very heavy pressure on Ottawa to ban Huawei in our 5G system.
Paul Evans
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Canada has been caught between its two largest trading partners as the U.S. and China remain locked in a trade war that’s lasted more than a year.
“Under the Trudeau government, Canada has been trying not to pick sides, even though Canada and the US are close allies, in military and economic terms. Canada sees China as a growing power that it needs to engage, which makes it hard to navigate the current imbroglio,” Ong told CNBC via email.
“The US-China trade war makes things more difficult for Canadian policy makers,” said Robert Fay, director of global economy at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Canada.

“It’s not about ‘picking sides’ – rather it is about making sure that Canadian businesses have access to many markets for their products and services,” Fay told CNBC in an email.
Relations with the US
The U.S. is Canada’s top trading partner, with goods and services trade between the two countries totaling an estimated $714.1 billion in 2018, according to the U.S. Trade Representative office. Canada was America’s third largest supplier of goods imports last year, the USTR said.
Trump’s protectionist stance on trade has hit countries in Europe as well as Mexico, Japan and China. Canada has not been spared either.
Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration raised steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada last summer.
The U.S. eventually lifted those tariffs, paving the way for the United States Mexico Canada Agreement — an updated version of the the 25-year-old NAFTA deal. Still, their bilateral trade ties remain contentious.

WATCH NOW
VIDEO00:59
US and Canada will lift tariffs within 48 hours

“The USMCA is yet to be ratified in the U.S., and therefore the U.S. has considerable leverage, making Canada very vulnerable right now,” said Paul Evans, professor at the public policy and global affairs school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
The neighboring allies have seen bilateral ties frat since President Donald Trump took office in 2017. For one, the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord which Canada has been a loud advocate for. Then Trump openly called Trudeau “very dishonest and weak” at a G-7 meeting in Quebec in June last year.
Relations with China
China may be Canada’s second largest trade partner, but it accounts for a much smaller percentage of the North American country’s exports compared to the U.S.
According to Statistics Canada, trade between Canada and China was $37.9 billion in 2018, and exports from Canada to China was $25.3 billion — making up only 4.6% of Canadian total exports.
Relations between Canada and China took a turn for the worse in December last year with the arrest of Chinese tech giant Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the company’s founder. Meng was detained in Vancouver at the request of the U.S.
Subsequently, Washington banned Huawei from participating in the development of 5G technology within its borders and has urged its allies to do the same.

If the Hong Kong situation deteriorates ... then Canada will have to take a harder stance on China because there are 300,000 Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong.
Paul Evans
PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
The U.S has alleged that Huawei’s technology could enable Chinese espionage but the tech giant has repeatedly denied that its products represent any risk.
“There is no question that Washington is putting very heavy pressure on Ottawa to ban Huawei in our 5G system,” said Evans.
“Many Canadians have felt that the U.S. has thrown Canada under the ‘anti-china, cold war’ bus with the Meng (Wanzhou) arrest,” said Evans.
“It is a widespread view among tech experts in Canada” that Huawei’s 3G and 4G technology worked well in Canada, he added.

WATCH NOW
VIDEO01:38
Discussing China-Canada relations in light of Huawei case

Canada is caught between a rock and a hard place.
If Canada were to follow the U.S. in banning Chinese tech, it will “put a chill in the bilateral relationship with China,” Evans said. Yet if it doesn’t, Canada may face “retaliation from the U.S. and that would be hard to juggle,” he added.
Following Meng’s arrest, Beijing detained other Canadian citizens for alleged spying and blocked imports of some of the country’s most traded commodities — canola and meat.
Hong Kong protests
While China has not been raised as an official campaign issue by either the conservatives or the liberals so far, but should the Hong Kong protests deteriorate further, things could change, Evans said.
Hong Kong — a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 — has entered its fourth month of mass protests. What started out as demonstrations against a now-suspended extradition bill has caught the attention of the world, amid increasing violence and disruptions to international air travel.
“The most sensitive issue is the Hong Kong situation,” Evans said.
“If the Hong Kong situation deteriorates — for example if there is armed police going in to Hong Kong from the mainland or protesters get killed — then Canada will have to take a harder stance on China because there are 300,000 Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong, the city with the most Canadian citizen residents in Asia.”

WATCH NOW
VIDEO06:46
What is Hong Kong’s relationship with China?

Canadian ambassador to China John McCallum was recently caught up in the diplomatic dispute. In January, McCallum was fired after he told a reporter it would be “great for Canada” if the U.S. dropped its extradition request against the Huawei executive and negotiated a deal for the release of the two Canadian men detained in China. There was a public backlash as people criticized his comments as inappropriate.
McCallum’s replacement was announced in September — a move that can be interpreted as reestablishing diplomatic ties, said Evans.
And now may be a good time for Canada to diversify its trade relations, Jay and Evans suggested.
Evans said Canada could seek out stronger trade partners such as India and Asian countries that are part of regional trade blocs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

PS1gamenwatch · Oct 15, 2019

A few related stories:

COMMENTARY: Canada needs to plan ways to meet China’s military challenge

Canada needs to consider how it should prepare for China’s economic and military rise, Matthew Fisher says.

globalnews.ca

COMMENTARY: Canada needs to plan ways to meet China’s military challenge
BY MATTHEW FISHER SPECIAL TO GLOBAL NEWS
Posted October 13, 2019 8:00 am

Forget for a moment Canada’s grave dispute with China over the extradition proceedings in Vancouver involving a Huawei executive. As the New York Times reminded readers last week, China has even gone after that most Canadian of bears, Winnie the Pooh.
The orphaned bear cub from White River, Ont., a First World War vet of sorts and an honourary member of the Winnipeg-based Fort Garry Horse — hence Winnie — has been banned from television and the internet by Communist China’s ridiculously sensitive and self-centred government, because of suggestions that the chubby, Canadian-born mascot and international media sensation resembles Beijing’s strongman Xi Jinping.

As was demonstrated last week when the Communist regime went nuts after a pro-Hong Kong tweet by a team general manager, this is China today. How to deal with China’s caprices, tantrums and the military challenge it already poses in the western Pacific is a conundrum not only for Canada, but for many other countries.

China’s shocking kidnapping of two Canadians in response to the extradition hearing of Meng Wanzhou and an outrageous accusation by the Chinese ambassador that Canada was guilty of “egotism and white supremacy” for not releasing her may have finally put the Chinese dictatorship on the radar of sleepy Canadians.
Given how dependent Canada is in trade on the high seas and that most of its trade growth is and will be in Asia, Canadians should have begun paying close attention to Beijing after it announced about five years ago that it intended to ignore the claims of half a dozen Asian nations and steal the entire South China Sea and a good chunk of the East China Sea.

1:13Leaders’ Debate: Singh and Scheer attack Trudeau’s handling of Canadians being held in China
Leaders’ Debate: Singh and Scheer attack Trudeau’s handling of Canadians being held in China
It has been said for decades that Canadians do not care about foreign or security policy. That surely explains why, for example, there has been no serious discussion during the current election campaign of the country’s strategic priorities and military spending — though at about $21 billion a year, this is by far the biggest annual bill produced by any government department.
Yet that could finally be changing. China’s economic and military rise is something that candidates and campaign workers have told me voters have raised with them when they have been out canvassing.

I argued in this space last week that it made economic and strategic sense for Ottawa to greatly broaden its approach to Asia by expanding trade with other nations in the region, such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. No leader has seriously discussed ways Canada might deal with China during the past few weeks — Canada has security as well as economic options that are worth considering. But to do anything in that sphere will first require discussion by the political echelon and Canadians about what kind of force is required to defend Canada in the 21st century and, crucially, how to pay for it.

And that conversation, which must inevitably also touch on cyber warfare, information warfare and space warfare, as well as how Canada will have to pay for its own security because the U.S. either no longer wants to or is capable of doing so, has certainly not begun in any way during the current election campaign.
For starters, Canada could consider joining the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, also called the Quad. It’s a recently-reinvigorated Five Eyes-style intelligence group involving India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. Its remit is to watch over the entire Indo-Pacific, which includes sea lanes that are vital to Canada’s economic prosperity.

In the same vein, the Canadian Armed Forces is creating a cyber battalion. But the threat there is so great and constant that a much bigger unit such as a brigade may be required with the force’s focus equally split between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Urgent consideration should also be given to seriously re-balancing the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force to put more assets and personnel in western Canada. Though there might be institutional resistance because many of the RCN’s officers and sailors are from the Maritimes, the next government should consider taking two Halifax-based frigates and putting them on the West Coast.
As the extra warships and the basing of a supply ship on the Pacific are unlikely to easily fit into the already-crowded small harbour at CFB Esquimalt, it might be prudent to open a new base further north on Vancouver Island or in the ports of Prince Rupert and Kitimat, where a $40-billion LNG terminal may be built.

Sending two frigates west to join the five that are already there would still allow the RCN to meet its NATO obligations to provide a persistent naval combat presence in the North Atlantic. By having more of its ships based on the West Coast, Canada would, for the first time, be able to maintain a permanent naval combat presence in the western Pacific. Because of the need to maintain the RCN’s 30-year-old warships and train their crews, the navy today can only be in the western Pacific about eight months a year.

China intends to soon have a far-ranging blue water navy that includes not only assault ships and hundreds of destroyers, but many dozens of submarines.
As Canada needs to protect shipping lanes in conjunction with its allies, the RCN may have to purchase submarines, as the Conservatives have suggested. But Canadians would have to be warned and educated about the fact that acquiring new subs would cost many tens of billions of dollars and make current angst over the cost of new fighter jets and surface warships look like peanuts.
It also makes sense to base a squadron of whatever new fighter jet Canada buys at CFB Comox. This would not be that difficult as the base already has the infrastructure to handle CF-18s, which frequently rotate through CFB Comox to maintain an alert capability on the West Coast.
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This may sound like pie-in-the-sky stuff; some of it probably is. Certainly, the costs would be far higher than any Canadian politician has dared mention since the Second World War.
But Canadians must better understand that China poses a great security challenge as well as a business opportunity. Simply throwing in the towel when China takes Canadians hostage is not good enough.
It would behoove Canadians to remember China’s banishment of that quintessentially genial and bland Canadian, Winnie the Pooh. In its own curious way, that sad affair says a lot about what Canada faces when dealing with the emerging superpower across the water.

Conservative says Trudeau not doing enough in China dispute

The leader of Canada's Conservative party accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday of being idle in the government's dispute with China.

www.chicagotribune.com

Conservative says Trudeau not doing enough in China dispute

By BY ROB GILLIES
ASSOCIATED PRESS |
OCT 14, 2019 | 9:00 PM
| TORONTO

(Chris Wattie / AP)

The leader of Canada's Conservative party accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday of being idle in the government's dispute with China.

Speaking at the final campaign debate before Oct. 21 parliamentary elections, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau hasn't done enough.

China detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on Dec. 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release the daughter of the founder of tech giant Huawei . Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was detained at Vancouver's airport Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S., which wants her extradited to face charges that she committed fraud.

Relations between China and Canada are at their lowest point since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, China has also stopped importing certain Canadian products like canola and meat.

Scheer said Trudeau "dragged his heels" in complaining to the World Trade Organization.

Trudeau's government has embarked on a campaign with allies to win the release of the detained Canadians and point out China's apparent campaign of intimidation and retribution. The U.S., Britain, the European Union and many other countries have issued statements in support of Canada

"We have activated all of our allies to put pressure on China to say no, this is not how it's done. You are not allowed to detain people arbitrarily," Trudeau said.

Letter: Pro-China groups in Richmond should be thankful for free Canada

Dear Editor, Re: “Richmond clash between pro-China, pro-Hong Kong supporters,” News, Oct. 2. It is a mockery to celebrate racial harmony in Richmond when one realizes how skin deep it is. . . .

www.richmond-news.com

Letter: Pro-China groups in Richmond should be thankful for free Canada

Richmond News
OCTOBER 13, 2019 12:05 PM




Pro-China supporters (right) clashed with Pro-Hong Kong supporters underneath the Aberdeen Canada Line station on Tuesday afternoon. Screenshots

Dear Editor,
Re: “Richmond clash between pro-China, pro-Hong Kong supporters,” News, Oct. 2.

It is a mockery to celebrate racial harmony in Richmond when one realizes how skin deep it is.
When I learned about the racial slur of a woman yelled against a mother and a daughter in a shopping mall parking lot, asking them to go back to their home country, I was upset.

I felt discriminated as a person from an immigrant ethnic group.
But then, some Asian-looking Mandarin-speaking thugs, because of their intolerance of different opinions, ripped off the pro-Hong Kong people’s sticky notes posted on the makeshift Lennon Wall near Aberdeen station. I felt doubly upset. How dare you!
Ironically, in this context, I can’t agree more with that parking lot lady.
Shouldn’t you thank Canada for providing you the environment and the opportunity to express your five cent opinions, have a taste of democracy, without the threat of retaliation?
And yet, here you are, trumpling others people’s rights without a sense of shame and self awareness. How dare you!
It is Canada. Here we are, enjoying freedom of speech under the Charter. Even if you learn nothing in school, please at least take this piece of fact home when I show you the door.

RodgerDodger · Oct 15, 2019

PS1gamenwatch said:
A few related stories:

COMMENTARY: Canada needs to plan ways to meet China’s military challenge

Canada needs to consider how it should prepare for China’s economic and military rise, Matthew Fisher says.

globalnews.ca

Conservative says Trudeau not doing enough in China dispute

The leader of Canada's Conservative party accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday of being idle in the government's dispute with China.

www.chicagotribune.com

Letter: Pro-China groups in Richmond should be thankful for free Canada

Dear Editor, Re: “Richmond clash between pro-China, pro-Hong Kong supporters,” News, Oct. 2. It is a mockery to celebrate racial harmony in Richmond when one realizes how skin deep it is. . . .

www.richmond-news.com

Canada needs to do plan more to meet China's military challenge!

Step 1 - Ask yourselves "Didn't we used to have a Navy? Whatever happened to it?"

Freddy Freaker · Oct 15, 2019

RodgerDodger said:
Canada needs to do plan more to meet China's military challenge!

Step 1 - Ask yourselves "Didn't we used to have a Navy? Whatever happened to it?"

"Just let the Americans worry aboot it, eh?" *laughs in ketchup potato chip*

No Exit · Oct 15, 2019

Freddy Freaker said:
"Just let the Americans worry aboot it, eh?" *laughs in ketchup potato chip*

Well yeah, it's current year+4, war doesn't happen anymore. Imagine being a yankee and reveling in past barbarism. That 2nd amendment makes you guys savages.

Still Anonymous For This · Oct 15, 2019

Freddy Freaker said:
"Just let the Americans worry aboot it, eh?" *laughs in ketchup potato chip*

That's the modus operandi of every NATO country except for France, Poland and the Baltics.

At this point if the US left NATO, it would just be France searching its couch cushions for loose change to buy more smart munitions and Poland being relieved that its going to only be fucked on one front this go around.

PS1gamenwatch · Nov 1, 2019

A few updates:

China urges release of Huawei exec with new Canadian envoy
by Casper Writer
By YANAN WANG, Associated Press
BEIJING — China urged Canada to “reflect on its mistakes” and immediately release an arrested Huawei executive in comments Thursday on the appointment of a new Canadian ambassador to the country.
Relations between China and Canada were severely damaged when Meng Wanzhou — the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei and the daughter of its founder — was arrested at Vancouver‘s airport last Dec. 1 at the request of the U.S.
“At present, China-Canada relations are facing serious difficulties,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily briefing. “We urge the Canadian side to reflect on its mistakes, take seriously China‘s stern position and concerns, and immediately release Meng Wanzhou and let her return safely.”
Geng said China hopes the new envoy, Dominic Barton, can play an active role in returning ties to a “normal track” and take China‘s concerns seriously. He said Canada is responsible for the current tensions.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired previous Ambassador John McCallum after he said it would be “great” if the U.S. dropped its extradition request for Meng. She is wanted by the U.S. on fraud charges and is currently out on bail in Vancouver and living in her multi-million dollar home awaiting extradition proceedings.
In apparent retaliation less than two weeks after her arrest, China detained two Canadians on suspicion of stealing state secrets. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor have been denied access to lawyers and their family members since Dec. 10.
China has also placed restrictions on various Canadian exports to China, including canola and meat. In January, China handed a death sentence to a convicted Canadian drug smuggler in a sudden retrial.
Barton, former global managing director of consulting firm McKinsey & Co., worked in Asia for 12 years and served on the board of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He also was an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, according to online biographies.
China has also appointed a new envoy to Canada, Cong Peiwu. Cong previously headed the foreign ministry‘s office on North American affairs.
___
This story has been corrected to show that Meng has been released on bail and is not under house arrest.

Canada's weakened government faces tough choices over China

Trudeau should broaden regional ties to reduce dependence on Beijing

asia.nikkei.com

Canada's weakened government faces tough choices over China
Trudeau should broaden regional ties to reduce dependence on Beijing
Philip Calvert
NOVEMBER 01, 2019 14:00 JST

Justin Trudeau, right, and Xi Jinping listen to opening remarks at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28: Trudeau have to balance hostile public opinion against the reality that China remains Canada's second-largest trading partner. © The Canadian Press/AP
The China-Canada relationship has deteriorated sharply since the early years of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's first term in government, beginning 2015, when Canada hosted back-to-back exchanges of leaders, joined the Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and discussed a potential trade agreement.
The failure of Trudeau's governing Liberal party to win a parliamentary majority in elections on October 21, then, will further complicate Ottawa's troubled relations with Beijing, likely accelerating Canadian attempts to diversify economic relations in Asia while diminishing the country's strength in its standoff with telecoms giant Huawei.
In 2017, the expected launch of free trade talks between Canada and China fell apart over the issue of labor rights. A year later the relationship nose-dived over the detention of Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese Huawei executive, on a U.S. extradition warrant. This was followed by China's retaliatory arrest of two Canadians and restrictions on imports of Canadian canola, beef and pork.

These developments have led to a significant hardening of Canadian attitudes toward China, which even a resolution of the Meng issue and the release of the two arrested Canadians would not overcome.
China's actions have also drawn attention to the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department to influence public opinion in Canada, including through some Chinese students and local organizations. This has seriously damaged China's image in Canada, as in other countries with a significant Chinese presence, such as Australia and New Zealand.
Trudeau's reelected minority government, which will have to rely on the support of smaller parties to retain power, will find a series of difficult decisions that have divided Canadian public opinion have now become more complicated.
In particular, this hardening of opinion will affect Trudeau's decision on Huawei's application to supply fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless infrastructure equipment. The government delayed a decision until after the election, and is under strong pressure from parts of the business community to approve the project.
But it faces equally powerful opposition from public opinion, which favors the Australian approach of banning Huawei infrastructure on security grounds.

Supporters hold signs and Chinese flags outside the British Columbia Supreme Court bail hearing of Meng Wanzhou: the China-Canada relationship nose-dived over the detention of Meng. © Reuters
Trudeau will have to balance hostile public opinion against the reality that China remains Canada's second-largest trading partner. But any move to approve the project while the two Canadians remain under arrest in China would provoke a fierce public and parliamentary backlash. It could also damage Canada's security ties with the U.S. and other partners -- the U.K., Australia and New Zealand -- in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing arrangement.
Given the difficulty of improving ties with China the Liberals should step up efforts to reduce Canada's dependence on trade with China by diversifying economic relations in Asia. At the least, Ottawa must continue to pursue membership of the 18-member East Asia Summit, which includes the U.S. and Russia. Some member states are sceptical that Ottawa has yet to demonstrate a sustained commitment to the region.
The Business Council of Canada is urging closer ties with Japan, which would be a strategically important move, especially given Tokyo's role in North Asian security and a recent U.S.-Japan trade agreement.
Canada and Japan are both members of the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Ottawa should pursue stronger economic ties with other CPTPP partners and emerging candidates such as Thailand and Taiwan.
The economic dynamism of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the group's growing strategic importance in the face of Chinese expansionism also warrants more attention from Canada.
Discussions about a trade agreement with ASEAN started during Trudeau's first term, and concluding such an agreement would deliver real results -- not least because small and medium-sized Canadian companies would find competition less fierce and resource-intensive than in China.
If Canada paid greater attention to marketing its education sector in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore and Thailand, this could bring more ASEAN students to Canada and more diversity to Canada's international student population.
Trudeau could well garner support from other parties in parliament for most of these Asian initiatives and for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, which would boost Canadian oil exports to Asia. He could count on the Conservatives, the second largest party, here, but it is opposed by the New Democratic Party, Trudeau's potential partner in government, and environmentalists.
At the same time, he would also come under greater public and parliamentary pressure to take a tougher line against Chinese interference in Canada, and to speak out more forcefully on human rights issues, including showing greater support for pro-reform protesters in Hong Kong and the oppressed Uighur minority in China's Xinjiang province.
Such moves would further antagonize Beijing, making the resolution of bilateral disputes even more difficult. This means Trudeau needs a more comprehensive approach to economic and diplomatic relations in the region to attract public support and offer a potential exit route from Canada's China dilemma.

PS1gamenwatch · Nov 23, 2019

An update:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cong-peiwu-china-ambassador-kovrig-spavor-1.5370503

New Chinese ambassador doesn't budge on detainees, Hong Kong during press conference
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Cong Peiwu also warns Canada not to follow U.S. example over Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests

Evan Dyer · CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2019 5:47 PM ET | Last Updated: November 22

Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Canada Cong Peiwu participates in a roundtable interview with journalists at the Embassy of China in Ottawa on Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
1658
comments
It's still up to Canada to mend fences if it wants better relations with China, the country's new ambassador to Canada suggested today during his first official press conference in Canada.
Cong Peiwu also warned Canadian parliamentarians not to follow the lead of the U.S. Congress in seeking to sanction Chinese officials over their handling of the Hong Kong crisis.
Cong took questions at China's embassy in Ottawa today. Reporters were free to ask whatever they wanted, though there was no opportunity for follow-up questions.
Overall, Cong presented an impression of continuity with the previous ambassador, Lu Shaye — and offered no indication of movement in Beijing's position on either the two Canadians detained in China or the dramatic situation in Hong Kong.
Defending detentions
Cong began his remarks by talking about the economic advances China has made over seven decades of Communist Party rule. He described China as the main motor of growth in the world's GDP and the nation that has lifted the largest number of people out of poverty.
He also talked about China's commitment to be more open to the world — although he described that openness in strictly economic and business terms.
He spoke about China's desire to have friendly relations with other countries, including Canada, but stressed that those relations would have to be conditioned on "mutual respect" and "equality" among nations.
"We believe that the countries should live in harmony, and treat each other as equals in this community of the world, just as President Xi Jinping has been pointing out," he said.
CBC News asked Cong about China's treatment of Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are being held in solitary confinement while Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou — taken into custody by the RCMP on an American warrant — is able to spend her pre-trial period in one of her two Vancouver homes.

Michael Spavor, left, and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, right, were taken into custody by Chinese officials. (Associated Press/International Crisis Group/Canadian Press)
"We have always stressed that (the Meng case) is by no means a purely judicial case," said the ambassador, "but instead a very serious political incident plotted by the United States.
"And for Canada, it has abused its treaty of extradition between Canada and the United States, and arbitrarily detained [Meng Wanzhou], which violates her legitimate rights."
Cong said that Kovrig and Spavor were "engaged in suspected activities endangering national security of China. But there is nothing like arbitrary detention.
"These two cases they are very much different in nature. Meng Wanzhou's case is arbitrary detention by the Canadian side. For those two Canadian citizens there is no arbitrary arrest at all. So that's my answer."
No dialogue on Hong Kong
Asked about the possibility that China might be open to a dialogue with the Hong Kong protest movement, Cong replied that the protesters were "violent and radical criminals."
"Supporting the Hong Kong police in strictly enforcing the law, and supporting the Hong Kong judiciary in bringing those criminals to justice according to law, that's our position. And we are determined to safeguard our national sovereignty, our core interests, our security and development interests, and we are determined to oppose any foreign intervention."
Cong said that any voices in Canada calling on Beijing to respect the principle of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong are misguided, insisting China has respected that commitment since 1997 and continues to do so.

A protester is detained by riot police while attempting to leave the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) during clashes with police in Hong Kong, China November 18, 2019. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
And he was sharply critical of legislation that passed almost unanimously through the U.S. Congress yesterday, setting up potential sanctions for Chinese officials involved in suppressing Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.
The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, if signed into law by President Trump, would also require the State Department to certify annually that Beijing is still respecting its commitment to the "one country, two systems" principles under which the territory returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
Warning shot at Canada
Cong warned that Canada would be unwise to follow the U.S. example.
"If somebody here is really trying to push the decision to have this kind of law like that in the United States, it's very dangerous, we would certainly be firmly opposed to that," he said. "And if anything happens like this, we would suddenly have very bad damage to our bilateral relationship. And that's not in the interests of Canada."
Watch: China's new ambassador warns Canada against intervention on Hong Kong

Watch
China's ambassador warns Canada against interference in Hong Kong

18 hours ago

1:29

Cong Peiwu spoke to reporters at China's Embassy in Ottawa Friday. 1:29
This morning, President Donald Trump told the Fox News show Fox & Friends that he was considering vetoing the U.S. legislation.
"We have to stand with Hong Kong," the president said, "but I'm also standing with President Xi. He's a friend of mine. He's an incredible guy, but we have to stand … I'd like to see them work it out, okay?"
Trump has until the end of the month to decide whether he will sign the bill, but the overwhelming strength of the bill's majorities in both houses suggests that any presidential veto probably would be blocked.
No such law is currently under consideration in Canada, but Canada already has a law — the Magnitsky Act — that could be used to sanction Chinese officials.
Huawei: 'No back doors'
The Hong Kong democracy bill was one of two setbacks China suffered this week in the United States.
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to ban companies that use equipment and services from either Huawei or Chinese tech company ZTE from accessing U.S. government broadband subsidies.
Though not strictly speaking a ban, the move eliminates any cost advantages the Chinese firms may have enjoyed in the U.S., making it very difficult for them to sell into that market.
"They are mobilizing their national resources to try to cover, to contain the obvious development [of Chinese technology], and its intention actually is trying to pin down our high tech industry," said Cong.

As China pushes back at Washington, Halifax security forum honours Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement

New public safety minister says Huawei 5G review 'a priority' but offers no timeline

Ex-British Consulate staffer Simon Cheng says Chinese police tortured him

"As you can see, some senior officials of the United States, wherever they travel they will say something very negative against Huawei, and claiming Huawei is posing a security threat to the country they are visiting without providing any evidence."
"Actually it's those countries which have the PRISM program who have used these kinds of things to spy and have this surveillance, large-scale impact on foreign countries and companies."
PRISM is the code name of a U.S. surveillance program, exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, that conducted massive eavesdropping operations in foreign countries.
Cong suggested foreign countries would be safer installing Chinese equipment.
"There's nothing like back door devices being installed by Huawei," said the ambassador. "So that's a groundless accusation.
"So we do hope that the Canadian side will provide a fair, just and a non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies."
A message to the Trudeau government
Cong closed his remarks with what sounded like a message for the new Trudeau government.
Talking about the past year of "twists and turns, even setbacks" in the relationship, Cong said "we do hope that the Canadian side will reflect on what has happened and take concrete measures to push our relationship back to the normal track. So that's the task for the government.
"And we do hope that those important people in the new cabinet will play an active role in making sure that relations of our two countries return to their normal track on the basis of mutual respect and equality."

Jarolleon · Nov 23, 2019

Ineedahero said:
Why is she called the insect queen? How am I the first person to ask this?

It's a meme as old as Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

Dizzydent · Nov 23, 2019

Fucking christ just cuck all my shit up always I guess

Ineedahero · Nov 23, 2019

Jarolleon said:
It's a meme as old as Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

Thanks, I spent the last three hundred and forty nine days utterly perplexed.

Scarlett Johansson · Nov 24, 2019

What's she up to now
Also i was confusing her for that korean nut heiress who threw the tantrum on the flight

PS1gamenwatch · Dec 18, 2019

A few updates and fluff:

China says will prosecute 2 Canadians for spying

Canada concerned pair have no legal counsel - Anadolu Agency

www.aa.com.tr

China says will prosecute 2 Canadians for spying
Canada concerned pair have no legal counsel
Barry Ellsworth |17.12.2019

TRENTON, Canada
The detention of two Canadians by China reached one year Tuesday and China used the occasion to announce that the pair will face prosecution on charges of spying.
Michael Kovrig will be tried for "covertly gathering state secrets and intelligence for foreign forces," while Michael Spavor will be prosecuted for "stealing and illegally providing state secrets to foreign forces," the Chinese said Tuesday.
The arrests were widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s detention of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou last December at the request of the Americans, who said she contravened U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Meng, who has been under house arrest in Vancouver, is expected to face an extradition hearing in January. The arrest sparked outrage in Beijing and officials demanded her immediate release.
Speaking about the prosecution of the "two Michaels" as they are often referred to, Canada’s Justice Minister noted that the pair had no legal representation.
"Our heart goes out to them," David Lametti said on television via video. "I know they’ve had consular access, but it troubles me that they haven’t had any access to legal counsel."
Lametti also said that, "We have had the prime minister and now two ministers for foreign affairs who have made it (the release) their top priority."
Ironically, the day before the Chinese announced the prosecutions, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne noted in a statement that Dec. 10 marked the first anniversary of their arrests and that efforts to secure their freedom continued.
"These two Canadians are and will remain our absolute priority," Champagne said. "We will continue to work tirelessly to secure their immediate release and to stand up for them as a government and as Canadians" and who have been "arbitrarily" detained.
The opposition Conservative party said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government should create a special committee to review Canada-Chinese relationships. If Trudeau says no to the committee, a Conservative spokesperson said it proves the Liberals do not want their actions in the case investigated because it has been bungled.
"If the Liberal government opposes this modest proposal, it is a recognition they simply want to avoid scrutiny of their handling of this diplomatic crisis over the last year," said Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole via a news conference video.
Along with the arrests of the two Canadians the Chinese took other putative action by banning the importation of Canadian canola, a move that hurt farmers because China is their largest customer. Pork was also banned for a time.
With an aim to restore more cordial relations, Canada appointed a new Chinese-friendly ambassador in September.
*Writing by Servet Gunerigok

China’s Tencent apologizes after WeChat translates Canadian flag into ‘He’s in prison’

Auto-translation rendered an emoji of the Andorra flag into the phrase ‘He was killed,’ the Aruba flag into ‘You’re under arrest’ and Congo into 'He’s dead’

www.theglobeandmail.com

China’s Tencent apologizes after WeChat translates Canadian flag into ‘He’s in prison’

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPEASIA CORRESPONDENT
BEIJING
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 17, 2019UPDATED 18 HOURS AGO
31 COMMENTS
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A picture illustration shows a WeChat app icon in Beijing, in a Dec. 5, 2013, file photo. Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying it is 'taking immediate action to fix a translation bug on WeChat.'
PETAR KUJUNDZIC/REUTERS
The maker of Chinese app WeChat has apologized after its auto-translation software rendered an emoji of the Canadian flag into the phrase “He’s in prison.”
The unexpected translation occurred when an icon for the flag was inserted into a Chinese sentence and then translated into English, using an automated feature in WeChat meant to smooth communication between speakers of the two languages. The bug did not affect Canada alone: on Tuesday WeChat translated the Andorran flag into “He was killed,” the Aruban flag into “You’re under arrest” and the flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo into “He’s dead.”
But the rendering of the maple leaf into “He’s in prison” drew immediate attention and spread across social media. Last December China detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and both men remain in prisonlike facilities, barred from seeing lawyers or family members. Their detention is generally seen as retaliation for the Dec. 1, 2018, arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying it is “taking immediate action to fix a translation bug on WeChat. We thank users for flagging this matter and apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
By early evening, the bizarre flag translations had vanished.

Tencent did not, however, provide any explanation for what happened, leading to speculation that the cause was malicious – or perhaps an indication that translation algorithms trawling digital communications had automatically picked up a relationship between the words “Canada” and “prison” in discussions in China.

“It’s either a joke or a machine-learning issue, but it may also indicate [the Canadian flag] has been used in connection with talking about prison,” said James Hull, an investment analyst in Beijing who is co-host of the China Tech Investor podcast.
The Ukrainian flag was also translated into “He’s in prison” before the company fixed the error.
Other translations were equally strange, if less politically sensitive. The emojis for the flags of Iceland and Ireland were rendered as “Hey. Hey,” and “Hey! Hey!” That of Greece was “Oh, yeah.” Bulgaria: “Hey, Chauncey!” South Africa: “He’s a henchman.” Egypt: “I’m sorry.” Brazil: “Oh, my God.” Turkey: “Oh, no.” Madagascar: “Heavy duty.” Cambodia: “Beyond recognition.” Bosnia and Herzegovina: “He’s in a coma.” Afghanistan: “In the middle of nowhere.” Myanmar: “Jackass.” Argentina: “You’re in love.”
But the software made no such errors with the flags of major Chinese trading partners, such as the United States, Germany, France, South Korea or Japan. Nor did it produce unexpected results with the flags of China, Taiwan or Hong Kong. (Neither Google Translate nor the digital translator operated by China’s Baidu attempt to translate flag emojis.)

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Tencent operates an artificial-intelligence lab that employs experts in natural-language processing. A researcher there declined to comment.
In China, WeChat is a near-universal tool, used for chatting, shopping, payment and a myriad of other services – including taking care of utility bills, booking ride-hailing services and ordering food for delivery. The app even allows users to pay their income taxes.
But Tencent has also sought to make WeChat into a global platform for communication and digital payment, an expansion that has occasionally courted controversy, particularly when the app censors conversations between international users on topics China considers sensitive.
Tencent hasn’t disclosed the number of active international users since 2013, but Questmobile, a Beijing-based consulting firm, estimates the number stood at 169.6 million by the end of 2018. Earlier this year, Tencent said its total daily user base had reached 1.11 billion.
Tencent is hardly alone in encountering machine-translation errors. Entire websites are devoted to cataloguing mistakes made by Google Translate, including rendering a specific type of dumpling into curse words and auto-translating a Galician culinary specialty into “clitoris.”
WeChat’s unusual translations of flag emojis ”doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on Tencent. This is a global issue,” said Manya Koetse, who writes about Chinese social media and is the editor-in-chief of www.whatsonweibo.com.

But others saw a hint of subversion creeping into an app whose ubiquity has made it a potent tool for Chinese state surveillance and censorship.
“Every time I interact with a tech person, a TV channel producer or a computer social media hacker, I’m always struck by the level of contempt for the censorship project,” said David Moser, a Chinese cultural observer and author of A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language.
Perhaps, he said, someone at Tencent engaged in a bit of “mischief making,” a “slightly subversive tweaking of the [Communist] Party nose.”

BlancoMailo · Jun 25, 2020

China's really using every dollar it can to push back on this one:

Trudeau under high-profile pressure to end Huawei exec's extradition, even if it rankles Trump

https://archive.is/YJ8yR

Justin Trudeau is under high-profile domestic pressure to halt the extradition process that could send Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to the United States — a move that would almost certainly anger the White House.
Nineteen prominent Canadians — including a former Supreme Court justice, former foreign affairs ministers and former ambassadors to Washington — sent a letter to the prime minister dated Tuesday calling on him to instruct his justice minister, David Lametti, to free Meng. A copy of the letter was obtained by POLITICO.

The letter’s signatories argue that Trudeau must act to ensure the freedom of two Canadians — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — who were rounded up in China in December 2018, days after Meng’s arrest in Vancouver. Last week, Chinese authorities formally charged the men, known by many Canadians as the “Two Michaels,” with espionage.

“We contend that the time is past due for the Minister to do just that: to end the Meng extradition proceeding and to bring the Two Michaels home,” says the letter co-signed by notables including Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice who was chief prosecutor for U.N. war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
“Their detention was completely unlawful and unjustified. Reliable accounts describe their conditions of confinement as tantamount to torture. The Two Michaels were taken in direct retaliation for the arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou.”
Meng’s case — based on fraud charges connected to her alleged violation of American sanctions on Iran — has launched middleweight Canada into the ring with two heavyweights: the U.S. and China. Her arrest has enraged China, which has called it a “grave political incident.”
President Donald Trump added complexity to the matter with public statements days after Meng’s arrest. During a December 2018 interview, Trump said he would be willing to intervene in Meng’s case if it would help the U.S. reach a trade deal with China or serve other American national security interests.
The letter’s signatories, who are of many political stripes, point to a legal opinion sent recently to Lametti’s office. It was prepared by veteran Toronto lawyer Brian Greenspan at the request of Kovrig’s wife, Vina Nadjibulla, Arbour and former federal justice minister Allan Rock.
In the legal opinion, Greenspan argues to Lametti that as minister he has the legal authority to use his discretion to stop Meng’s extradition process at any time if he decides it’s in Canada’s national interest. Greenspan also said the case against Meng is “weak and speculative."

The letter to Trudeau stresses: “There is no question that the U.S. extradition request has put Canada in a difficult position."
“Putting an end to the extradition proceeding may irritate the U.S. In normal circumstances, the safer choice would be to stay close to our ally, our friend, and our principal trading partner," says the letter, also signed by former U.S. envoys Derek Burney and Michael Kergin as well as former foreign ministers Lloyd Axworthy, Lawrence Cannon and André Ouellet. "But these are not normal times, and this is not a normal case.”

To fears that ending the extradition process would meet with strong U.S. objections, they note that it would not be the first time the North American neighbors have had big disagreements — and they recalled Canada’s refusal to join the invasion of Iraq.
China has demanded Canada immediately release Meng, the Chinese telecom giant’s chief financial officer.

Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, suggested Wednesday that releasing Meng could help the cases of Kovrig or Spavor.
“We have also seen reports of an interview with Kovrig's wife on June 23, during which she said that the Canadian justice minister had the authority to stop Meng Wanzhou's extradition process at any point,” he told a press conference, according to a Chinese government transcript.
“Such options are within the rule of law and could open up space for resolution to the situation of the two Canadians.”
The signatories to the Trudeau letter warned the courtroom battle over Meng’s extradition could last until 2024.
Nadjibulla, Kovrig’s wife, told POLITICO in an interview Tuesday that her husband is an innocent man who is detained in China under extreme, harsh conditions.
“Michael is in the fight for his life — this is extremely serious and he does not have years,” she said.
“Michael is a pawn in a broader political struggle, he’s paying a price. It is unjust, it is unfair and his detention has to come to an end.”
Earlier this week, Trudeau said China has made a direct link between Meng’s arrest and its detention of Kovrig and Spavor, which he called a political decision by Beijing. Asked by a reporter if his Liberal government might consider trading Meng for Kovrig and Spavor, Trudeau responded with a firm “no.”
“Canada has a strong and independent justice system,” Trudeau said. “Anyone who’s considering … weakening the independence of our justice system doesn’t understand the importance of standing strong on our principles and our values.”
The letter, which was first reported on by CBC News, was also met with criticism after it made headlines Wednesday.
"The signatories of this letter are the ones responsible for giving China a pass for years on violations of human rights,” Sen. Leo Housakos wrote in a tweet.
“They are the apologists for this dictatorial regime. All in pursuit of retainers and representing profiteers at the expense of Canadian values."
Housakos was among 13 senators who wrote their own letter to Trudeau this week to pressure him to take action on China. The senators urged him to get tougher, demanding he impose Magnitsky sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
The move, they said, would be in response to the violation of human rights and the rule of law in relation to Hong Kong’s protests, the systematic persecution of minority Muslims in China and the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor.

By the way, @It's HK-47, do you think you could merge the 5 different threads on this topic into this as a megathread, a lot of the info is scattered at the moment. Just search for "Huawei" in thread titles in this forum and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Snekposter · Jun 25, 2020

Jesus, as much as I feel bad for those two dudes in China, how can anyone not see that China's shamelessly telling Canada "Free her and we'll stop torturing your citizens." Whatever happened to not negotiating with terrorists?

AnOminous · Jun 25, 2020

Snekposter said:
Jesus, as much as I feel bad for those two dudes in China, how can anyone not see that China's shamelessly telling Canada "Free her and we'll stop torturing your citizens." Whatever happened to not negotiating with terrorists?

Notice they don't do this to Russia. Russians would "accidentally" kill her and then "accidentally" send a different part of her body to every member of her extended family.

CN Insect Queen (Huawei exec) arrested by Canada - The China hive is swarming mad

YOU BETTER RUN!

Burglar of Jess Phillips MP

Kaiserin

Born To Raise Hell

Poz my freak hole daddy

Hit and Run attack!

I've never even been to Vienna.

Hello, I'm Shelley Duvall!

Operation: Desert Snek

Any road will take you there.