It's not like it's doing us any good:
A Conservative Senator says that Canada is “subsidizing” the cultural genocide of the Uyghur people by allowing the import of goods made with slave labour. When Canada’s Senate reconvenes, Leo Housakos will bring a bill forward that, if passed, will outright ban all imports from China’s Xinjiang province. Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan, is the Uyghurs’ historical homeland and is where China has concentrated its eradication efforts.
The proposed ban is part of a larger Conservative push to condemn how Uyghurs are treated in light of the Trudeau government’s reluctance to criticize China. In June 2020, Housakos published a public letter , co-signed by 11 other Senators, which called for sanctions against Chinese officials implicated in human rights abuses. Then, early this year, the party brought a motion into the House of Commons formally calling China’s actions a genocide.
“At some point, China will have to align with Canadian values to do business in Canadian markets. Forced labour camps will not be tolerated,” Housakos said in a brief interview on Tuesday. “Every time we import these products, we are subsidizing a genocide.”
Goods made with forced labour have been banned from being imported into Canada since July 2020 . However, existing laws are ineffective because they rely on Canadian border service agents to determine whether forced labour has been used. Agents often lack the capacity to accurately make these determinations, as the origins of imports are very difficult to trace and evaluate.
Compare this to what Justin won't do:
The diplomatic damage caused by Trudeau’s foot dragging is already done. At the same time, Huawei has spent the last several years selling equipment to major phone carriers that have in turn put that gear into Canada’s telecom system.
Since the federal government announced a review of Huawei’s role in Canada’s 5G system back in 2018, the company has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment per year. Those sales may be drying up as companies react to public sentiment towards Huawei but the gear is already installed in cell towers across the country.
Telus, in particular, has a significant amount of Huawei gear installed, as does Bell, though to a lesser degree. And regional player Sasktel is also heavily reliant on Huawei gear.
Even with announcements such as those by Bell and Telus that they will be using other equipment suppliers in the future, it will take years to fully swap out the existing gear. In essence, Huawei has taken advantage of Trudeau ragging the puck on this issue to expand their business.
**
Canada will continue to discuss with its partners a potential diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, a foreign affairs spokesperson says, amid the recent disappearance of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.
(Sidebar: this Peng Shuai.)
"Canada remains deeply disturbed by the troubling reports of human rights violations in China," said Syrine Khoury, press secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, in a statement to CTVNews.ca.
Then there is nothing to discuss.
Why not just do it?
Oh, yes - China is Justin's favourite country.
More:
The disappearance of tennis star Peng Shuai this month has led many around the world to question the holding of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The Games are scheduled to begin February 4.
Now, only the morally bankrupt could think it is a good idea to allow the hostage-taking, rapist-protecting, genocide-committing Chinese regime to host this competition.
It is now time for the world to face the reality of the Communist Party of China and the horrific system it has constructed. There is only one correct choice: Move the Games. ...
Peng is not the only high-profile figure detained in recent months. Businessman Jack Ma, citizen journalists Zhang Zhan and Chen Qiushi, and celebrity Zhao Wei were all disappeared. Consider it a pattern.
Xi Jinping's China is far more coercive and secretive than the China of the preceding three decades, suggesting the regime is returning to its old ways. Mao and Mao-admirer Xi reflect the true nature of Chinese communism.
That regime, now dominated by Xi Jinping, is a threat to athletes coming to China to compete, as the Peng incident demonstrates. "Athletes are useful to the Communist Party as long as they are tools of the state," Cleo Paskal of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told Gatestone. "If they try to be individuals, they become a liability. The state will destroy the individual if that person is any risk to the Party." As Paskal, also associated with Chatham House, notes, Peng now poses a risk to the regime.
That is why the regime will make Peng publicly retract the accusations or destroy her. The individual means nothing in China's current system. Too many times, state television has aired ghastly confessions of obviously worn-down individuals.
Video footage of a dog being killed by COVID-19 prevention workers in China has sparked outrage after a clip showing the incident went viral on Chinese social media.
A woman claiming to be the owner of the dog posted the video to the Chinese social media site Weibo last Friday.
In the video post, which has been viewed by Global News and has since been taken down, a small corgi is woken up by two workers entering the apartment. The corgi cowers underneath a table as the workers discuss the dog’s fate.
“Did the leader say we need to settle it right here on the spot?” a worker dressed in full hazmat suit can be heard asking. “Yes,” the other replies, before striking the dog on the head with a crowbar. The dog whimpers and runs off-camera. Later, the two workers are seen returning to screen, carrying something in a yellow plastic bag — presumably the dog.
Hong Kong - the land everyone forgot:
A student activist in Hong Kong has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison for arguing that the territory should pursue independence.
Tony Chung was arrested and tried under the strict new national security laws imposed by Beijing last year.
He had already pleaded guilty to charges of secession and money laundering, but maintains that he has "nothing to be ashamed of".
The 20-year-old is the youngest person convicted under the laws to date.
The charges related to his leadership of a small, fringe group called Studentlocalism which he established as a student. The group advocated for Hong Kong's independence from China.
Previously a minority view, it became more prevalent during the pro-democracy protests that rocked the city in 2019.
Chung was also charged for possession of pro-independence materials and over social media posts which had been made illegal by the national security law.
However, several of the posts dated back to before the security law took effect, undermining Hong Kong's pledge that the rules would not be imposed retrospectively.
One knows it's bad when even a fellow traveller won't trust one:
Japan and Vietnam on Tuesday signed a cybersecurity agreement as the two Asian nations rapidly step up their military ties amid concerns over China’s growing assertiveness.
Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters that the cyberspace agreement aimed to address a “strong sense of urgency” over activities in the Indo-Pacific region that challenge the existing international order, indicating China without identifying any country by name.
Kishi said talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Giang, had taken “defense cooperation between the two countries to a new level.”
Japan has in recent years stepped up cyber defense cooperation with the United States, Australia and other partners, and participated in a NATO cyberspace exercise in April. Japan has also held cybersecurity talks with Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia.
Japanese Defense Ministry says cyberattacks are part of rising security threats from China as it becomes more assertive in the region — a shared concern by the United States and other allies in the region.
And what would one call belligerence in the South China Seas?:
China on Tuesday protested the passage of a U.S. Navy destroyer through the Taiwan Strait, calling it a deliberate move to undermine stability in the region.
The U.S. Navy said in a statement the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius “conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit” on Tuesday “in accordance with international law.”
It said the ship’s transit through the strait “demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."
“The United States military flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows,” said the statement posted on the website of the 7th Fleet.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said U.S. warships have been “flexing muscle and stirring up trouble in the Taiwan Strait repeatedly in the name of freedom of navigation.”
“This is not a commitment to freedom and openness, but a deliberate attempt to disrupt and undermine regional peace and stability," Zhao told reporters at a daily news briefing.
That's nice, China.
I love how Lithuania just doesn't care what China thinks:
China on Monday demanded Lithuania end its newly enhanced relationship with Taiwan that has already prompted Beijing to downgrade diplomatic ties from the ambassadorial level with the EU-member nation.
China reduced the level of its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to below ambassador level Sunday in retaliation for the Baltic nation allowing Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, to open a representative office.
Be a total honey badger, Lithuania!
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