<
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3106359/china-unleashed-some-wolf-warrior-diplomacy-canada-it-may-have>
"Canada’s foreign minister started last week by hailing the 50th
anniversary of diplomatic ties with China, and the importance of dialogue.
But by Thursday, Francois-Philippe Champagne was delivering a dressing
down to Beijing’s ambassador, Cong Peiwu, for “unacceptable and
disturbing” remarks about Canadians in Hong Kong, in which Cong accused
Canada of encouraging “violent criminals” by reportedly granting refugee
status to Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.
Cong also suggested that “the good health and safety” of Canadians in
Hong Kong might be at risk if Ottawa did not toe Beijing’s line. Asked
to clarify if this was a threat, he said “that is your interpretation”.
The remarks were the latest example of China’s new “wolf warrior” style
of diplomacy.
But Cong’s comments may have backfired."
Via Jim Douglas, who wrote:
"So it’s no longer news that Beijing has become increasingly aggressive
over the past few years. But I’m really starting to question their
understanding of the psychology of liberal democracies. In December of
2018, Canada honoured a U.S. request to arrest Huawei executive Meng
Wanzhou in Vancouver. Beijing immediately retaliated by seizing two
Canadian citizens in China as political hostages that they hoped to swap
for Meng. That’s clearly not an option in a country with an independent
judiciary. She remains under (extremely comfortable) house arrest in her
Vancouver mansion as the extradition process works its way through
Canadian courts. And those Canadian hostages remain in Chinese prisons,
innocent victims in this situation. And now the Chinese Ambassador to
Canada has made extremely thuggish threats on the safety of Canadian
citizens in Hong Kong, in an attempt to convince Canada to not accept
any refugees from Hong Kong. Their actions indicate that they think
democracies can be pressured by thuggish threats, when in fact the
opposite tends to be the case; those threats infuriate the public and
the government, dramatically reducing the chance of China achieving
their diplomatic goals."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
