Canada Back on China's Approved Travel List

Chinese tourists like to visit Vancouver's Stanley Park

Tour companies geared towards Chinese groups are excited that Canada is back on the approved destination status list. 

Chinese tour groups stopped coming to Canada when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, and relations between China and Canada were on the rocks because of the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and the subsequent detention of the two Michaels, Spavor and Kovrig.

But now that Prime Minister Mark Carney has reset relations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, there may be some deals in the future, though critics are concerned that human rights violations are being sidelined. 

While Canada is not as large a market as the United States, China is probably keen to divide and conquer North America. Does this mean Chinese electric vehicles in Canada are in the cards? 

In the meantime, we could see the resurgence of Chinese tour groups in Canada as early as Chinese New Year, which is February 17 next year. One tour operator, Glynnis Chan of Happy Times Travel says Chinese groups usually spend six weeks in Canada, visiting places like Vancouver's Stanley Park, the Rocky Mountains and Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and easily dropping $1,300 a day.

"[Monday's] news was like a shot in the arm to the local tourism industry, and I am ready to show them the beauty of the country," she said in an interview with the Canadian Press.

Individual Chinese tourists can travel to Canada, but it's the groups that bring more visitors.

One can only imagine not only tour operators are thrilled, but also Chinese restaurants that used to cater to these tourists will surely be gearing up to welcome them and their hungry stomachs...

Trudeau Finally Resigns

Trudeau giving his speech to reporters this morning in Ottawa

Finally this morning Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down. 

There was a flurry of excitement on CBC Radio, where a network special would start at 7am Pacific -- no -- at 7.30am Pacific. 

They cut into the morning show to bring Trudeau live from outside his Rideau Cottage, still decked in holiday decorations.

He looked hurt (and maybe cold?) when he explained "internal battles" had made it impossible for him to lead the Liberals in the next election, while also blaming the polarisation in the legislature for not being able to get bills passed.

Just having turned 53 on Christmas Day, Trudeau probably wanted a better celebration, but there was too much pressure mounting on all sides. Inside the Liberal Party there were already calls for Trudeau to resign, but he seemed to ignore the writing on the wall until his deputy and finance minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly quit last month, citing she did not agree with the direction he was taking the country.

Trudeau has also been facing a lot of heat from Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who constantly chided him with snarky soundbites, and then New Democrat Jagmeet Singh finally said his party was no longer propping up the Liberals anymore -- the Liberals were on their own.

There was also pressure from across the border from US President-elect Donald Trump, calling Trudeau the "governor" of the "51st state", despite the Canadian leader paying at least two visits to Mar-a-Lago to see if there was any chance of talking down Trump from the 25 percent tariffs.

So yes, Trudeau was dealing with a lot of heat on all sides.

"Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarisation that we're seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics," he said, "and allow people to actually focus on serving Canadians in this House and with their work, the way Canadians deserve," he said at one point in his speech.

Trudeau's announcement garnered a lot of interest from friends and relatives from San Francisco to Singapore, wondering what my take was on him resigning.

In 2015 we visited Halifax and we bumped into someone was campaigning for him. They hoped he would beat then Prime Minister Stephen Harper and I said, "I sure hope so!"

And he did, but then his majority kept shrinking with each election.

I knew Trudeau would be a lightweight, but he managed to hold his own for almost 10 years. However, he wasn't able to handle curveballs well, like the Meng Wanzhou case that was intertwined with the two Michaels. Trudeau later tried to stand up to Xi Jinping but instead was ridiculed in Chinese state media. 

There were later revelations of Chinese interference in the Canadian elections, and the strange case of Chinese police stations in the country that raised a lot of eyebrows. Not much has happened since the revelations, while other countries have kicked out these police stations.

Hopefully the next leader will take the opportunity to really clean house and get rid of any potential interference by Chinese and Indian state actors. Canada does not need these influences in politics or society.

Another misstep was immigration; the Trudeau government had announced there would be up to 500,000 immigrants let into the country annually which left Canadians flabbergasted -- how could so many be invited to come when they themselves didn't have jobs or places to live. 

The government later backtracked on its numbers, but it was too late -- anti-immigrant sentiment had already set in, not just by native-born Canadians, but also first and second generation immigrants who had benefited from Trudeau's father's immigration policies.

Despite Freeland's ambitions to become the next Liberal leader, her chances are slim because of her long association with Trudeau. While no one has officially thrown their hat into the ring, former Bank fo Canada governor Mark Carney has expressed interest, and same with former BC Premier Christy Clark.

Whoever is chosen by March 24 will have a tough road ahead dealing with not only Trump, but also the possibility of Canadian opposition parties calling a non-confidence vote in the House that could precipitate into an election.

The best case scenario would be a Conservative minority government to keep Poilievre in check. We don't want the CBC defunded, but we do want the budget managed... Trudeau's frivolous spending days are over.

 

Are Sino-Canadian Relations Thawing?

Joly and Wang met in Munich

China seems to be extending Canada an olive branch, as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Wang said the two countries were "not rivals, let alone enemies", an interesting development in the tense relationship between China and Canada particularly since the Meng Wanzhou incident that involved the incarceration of the two Michaels, Kovrig and Spavor.

Discussions between Joly (left) and Wang

In addition, Canada accuses China of meddling in its elections in 2019 and 2021, and Ottawa expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei last May over allegations of intimidating Conservative MP Michael Chong. 

That then led Beijing to expel Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, a consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai.

Wang told Joly the "current difficult situation... is not what China wants to see", according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout released on Sunday.

"The two sides are not rivals, let alone enemies, and should become cooperative partners," he said.

Wang urged Canada to "stop hyping the 'China threat theory' and stop spreading false information about so-called China interference in domestic affairs".

Perhaps he's referring to the public inquiry into foreign interference by countries like China, India and Russia that started in September last year. In interim report is expected at the end of February, and a final report at the end of the year. 

While it's a positive sign to see China willing to restart relations with Canada again, it can't have its cake and eat it too.

The Tense Encounter

Trudeau claims Chinese interference in Canada, Xi not pleased

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally worked up the courage to speak his mind to Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

Trudeau had to wait until Micheal Kovrig and Michael Spavor were back safely on Canadian soil, and then months of Covid-19 to finally meet Xi in person.

In the short terse informal meeting, Trudeau brought up the issue of China covertly funding 11 candidates in the 2019 federal elections 

Xi refuses to look Trudeau in the eye

Some say the exchange was meant for the Canadian domestic audience to show Trudeau standing up to Xi. But instead of being diplomatically suave with some chosen, firm words, Trudeau seems to look like rookie.

In the Canadian pool footage, Xi is annoyed that Trudeau had leaked their conversation to the media. 

"It's inappropriate to tell the newspaper what we talked about. That's not what we did," says Xi. "If there is sincerity, we should communicate well with each other in a respectful manner. Otherwise the result is hard to say. [We need to] create conditions, create conditions."

Others say Xi is annoyed, expecting deals to be kept under wraps but now they've been exposed.

Interesting that Xi refused to look Trudeau in the eye, and irritated Xi cuts the conversation short, shakes hands and leaves with a smile on his face. Trudeau scurries off before reporters can grill him.

In any event, Canada is not a priority in China's books, having been in the doghouse for the last few years, particularly since the arrest of Meng Wanzhou and the subsequent trial which took years to finally come to its conclusion.

Alleged "police service station" in Markham, ON

"Canada's been in the penalty box for a few years now," said Andrew Cooper, a professor with the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo.

"This is a very different China. President Xi is in a consolidated position. If he's not the new Mao, he's certainly in a position where he can be a central figure that can work in a way that we didn't anticipate when the G20 was created."

Canadian media are now focused on Chinese influence in the country, uncovering proxies who are used to funnel money from China to fund political candidates. There is also the issue of Chinese "service stations", three of which are in Ontario, but there could be more.

There are numerous "China-Canada friendship associations" that have a shell website or Facebook page, but don't reveal who is behind them... 

The media may not be able to get to the bottom of the matter, but the fact that Chinese influence is on their radar is enough to make Beijing worry.