Does Canada’s openness for Chinese business, silence on the South China Sea, signal shift away from U.S.?
SHANGHAI — As Justin Trudeau tours China, the Canadian government is making clear it’s open for Chinese business, but it remains tight-lipped on the South China Sea, signalling a shift in allegiances some believe could cool relations with the United States.
Many see Canada’s decision to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a positive sign for its economic future, even though the dozens of commercial agreements signed in Shanghai on Thursday appeared to deliver a majority of benefits to Chinese companies.
Others are worried so much goodwill towards China signals a weaker commitment to traditional allies.
And as tensions rise in the South China Sea ahead of the G20 summit this weekend, Canada appears reluctant to specifically call China out on the issue.
Foreign minister Stephane Dion’s office confirmed the South China Sea was raised in a Wednesday meeting between Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Dion made a statement on Canada’s position in July, but neither he nor Trudeau have publicly mentioned the dispute while in China this week.
Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire, and daughter Ella-Grace pose for a photo atop a section of the Great Wall of China, in Beijing on Thursday, September 1, 2016.
Nor does a joint press release from the Canadian and Chinese governments Thursday on their plans for co-operation acknowledge Canada’s position, though it does commit to dialogue on human rights, another sensitive issue.
Sovereignty of the sea, bordered by China, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, has long been disputed. China claims most of it, including its two small island chains. About US$5 trillion in traded goods passes through it annually, according to Reuters.
But based on equal distance from shorelines, China doesn’t have the right to most of what it is claiming, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In July, an arbitration initiated by the Philippines ordered China to back off from militarizing and developing the area.
China is ignoring the ruling and continues to build artificial islands. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has been running “freedom of navigation patrols” in the areas deemed international waters by the UN.
After the Permanent Court of Arbitration made its ruling in The Hague, Dion made a statement July 21 saying Canada is “deeply concerned about regional tensions” and “all claimants must refrain from land reclamation, militarization and other actions that can undermine regional security and stability.”
The statement didn’t call China out specifically on its actions.
Not naming China publicly implies “tacit consent to what China is doing,” said Brock University’s Charles Burton.
“The U.S. will be highly concerned about Canada’s ever closer relationship to China,” he said, and neither candidate in its upcoming election will look kindly on Canada “not openly and firmly standing up for the (arbitration) decision.”
Burton connected the issue to Canada’s decision to join the AIIB, “against U.S. urging.”
Former Conservative trade minister Stockwell Day was present at a Canada China Business Council gala Thursday evening in Shanghai, where Trudeau was the keynote speaker.
Day said the AIIB is a good idea for Canada, and while the U.S. has many reasons not to participate, Canada has just as many reasons to go ahead.
Jean Charest, also at the gala, acknowledged the AIIB represents a shifting of Canadian foreign interests — but said it’s a good thing, and that Canada can offer China a stable market and a “counterpoint” to domestic instability in the United States.
The U.S. is happy to stay out of the AIIB, according to Sean King, an Asia strategist and senior vice president of Park Strategies in New York.
He said Beijing is America’s “chief state actor rival,” threatening ally Japan and backing up adversary North Korea. As for Canada’s treatment of the South China Sea arbitration, he said the relative silence is “not encouraging but also not unexpected.”
Conservative Party leadership hopeful Brad Trost was another recent visitor to China. Though keen on Chinese business opportunities, Trost said he believes Canada should “stand by our traditional allies.”
Joining the AIIB sends “the wrong message to the Chinese government,” he said, “that we are thinking of re-aligning ourselves from the more American-centric nations … and moving to a different sphere of influence.”
Trost added Canada should be more “firm” on its South China Sea messaging, and that staying aligned with the U.S. wouldn’t preclude China from wanting to do business with Canadians — they’re “all business.”
Trudeau will have an opportunity to talk to U.S. president Barack Obama at the G20 in Hangzhou, which starts Sunday. It could be the last opportunity for them to meet face-to-face before the American election in November.
China will want to steer G20 conversations away from the South China Sea issue, but as with any international rendezvous, it and other regional security issues threaten to dominate the agenda.
(Source :news.nationalpost.com)
Many see Canada’s decision to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a positive sign for its economic future, even though the dozens of commercial agreements signed in Shanghai on Thursday appeared to deliver a majority of benefits to Chinese companies.
Others are worried so much goodwill towards China signals a weaker commitment to traditional allies.
And as tensions rise in the South China Sea ahead of the G20 summit this weekend, Canada appears reluctant to specifically call China out on the issue.
Foreign minister Stephane Dion’s office confirmed the South China Sea was raised in a Wednesday meeting between Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Dion made a statement on Canada’s position in July, but neither he nor Trudeau have publicly mentioned the dispute while in China this week.
Nor does a joint press release from the Canadian and Chinese governments Thursday on their plans for co-operation acknowledge Canada’s position, though it does commit to dialogue on human rights, another sensitive issue.
Sovereignty of the sea, bordered by China, Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, has long been disputed. China claims most of it, including its two small island chains. About US$5 trillion in traded goods passes through it annually, according to Reuters.
But based on equal distance from shorelines, China doesn’t have the right to most of what it is claiming, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. In July, an arbitration initiated by the Philippines ordered China to back off from militarizing and developing the area.
China is ignoring the ruling and continues to build artificial islands. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has been running “freedom of navigation patrols” in the areas deemed international waters by the UN.
The statement didn’t call China out specifically on its actions.
Not naming China publicly implies “tacit consent to what China is doing,” said Brock University’s Charles Burton.
“The U.S. will be highly concerned about Canada’s ever closer relationship to China,” he said, and neither candidate in its upcoming election will look kindly on Canada “not openly and firmly standing up for the (arbitration) decision.”
Burton connected the issue to Canada’s decision to join the AIIB, “against U.S. urging.”
Day said the AIIB is a good idea for Canada, and while the U.S. has many reasons not to participate, Canada has just as many reasons to go ahead.
Jean Charest, also at the gala, acknowledged the AIIB represents a shifting of Canadian foreign interests — but said it’s a good thing, and that Canada can offer China a stable market and a “counterpoint” to domestic instability in the United States.
The U.S. is happy to stay out of the AIIB, according to Sean King, an Asia strategist and senior vice president of Park Strategies in New York.
He said Beijing is America’s “chief state actor rival,” threatening ally Japan and backing up adversary North Korea. As for Canada’s treatment of the South China Sea arbitration, he said the relative silence is “not encouraging but also not unexpected.”
Conservative Party leadership hopeful Brad Trost was another recent visitor to China. Though keen on Chinese business opportunities, Trost said he believes Canada should “stand by our traditional allies.”
Joining the AIIB sends “the wrong message to the Chinese government,” he said, “that we are thinking of re-aligning ourselves from the more American-centric nations … and moving to a different sphere of influence.”
Trost added Canada should be more “firm” on its South China Sea messaging, and that staying aligned with the U.S. wouldn’t preclude China from wanting to do business with Canadians — they’re “all business.”
Trudeau will have an opportunity to talk to U.S. president Barack Obama at the G20 in Hangzhou, which starts Sunday. It could be the last opportunity for them to meet face-to-face before the American election in November.
China will want to steer G20 conversations away from the South China Sea issue, but as with any international rendezvous, it and other regional security issues threaten to dominate the agenda.
(Source :news.nationalpost.com)
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