Cryptic Liberal throne speech messages are no substitute for taking tough stand against China
National Post, 3 December 2021
Inflating meaningless wordplay about the Indo-Pacific is no substitute for practical action.
The spin doctors in the Liberal government did their masters proud after the recent throne speech, when word went out to expert commentators and academics (not to be considered experts by that fact alone) that momentous shifts were to be read into the traditionally somnolent address. Like shamans reading the avian entrails of disembowelled fowl, a super secret interpretation was divined and dutifully written up across the land.
The utterance of “Indo-Pacific” instead of “Asia-Pacific” from the vice-regal throne in the makeshift Senate chamber was, we were told , of seismic significance. Paul Evans, a professor at the University of British Columbia, spotted the shifting plates, ever so subtly suggested by employing the term “Indo-Pacific.”
“The Indo-Pacific as a frame is essentially a response to the rise of Chinese influence and power,” Evans said, noting that the decision on whether to ban Huawei equipment from Canada’s 5G networks and the upcoming Beijing Olympics are both on the agenda. “There are questions on the doorstep that are going to need answers. And this particular passage, in the throne speech, gives us a sort of hint which way the weather pattern might be developing.”
Fog is the customary weather pattern emerging from a throne speech. In relation to China, the favoured behaviour pattern of the Canadian government to date has been capitulation. If that is no longer the case, it would be climate change of a most unexpected and welcome sort. Otherwise, the throne speech would be just a bunch of hot air.
Is it not a rather large burden for four letters to carry — “Indo” versus “Asia”? Two straightforward questions are a quicker way to determine if the government has a different China policy: Why are the Liberals dragging their feet on the Huawei decision? And what is their position on alleged Chinese interference in the recent federal election, which was aimed at defeating Conservative candidates?
We know what they will do about Huawei, as there is only one option. However, the foot-dragging has cost Canada dearly already, in our recent exclusion from the security agreement between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
Our telecom giants have long since announced that they will not include Huawei tech in their 5G networks, but they have already purchased some $700 million worth of Huawei equipment for their existing networks. If the federal government bans Huawei, the telecoms are already making noises about needing compensation to remove gear that could be employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for commercial and state espionage.
“The reality right now is that Huawei equipment remains in current networks in most major Canadian cities, and many remote regions of Canada,” said Alykhan Velshi, Huawei Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs, and a former aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is none too subtle about channelling threats from China. ( Nice network you have there; nice Huawei equipment, too. It would be a shame if anything happened to it. )
What will the Liberals do about Chinese interference? If nothing, they can call their foreign policy priorities Himalayan-Polynesian for all the difference it will make to China.
Continue reading at the National Post.