National Identity
President Joe Biden’s administration canceled a $200 million grant it previously planned to award to a Chinese Communist Party-linked lithium-ion battery maker after Republican lawmakers criticized the deal.
Last year, Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) selected Microvast to receive a $200 million federal grant from a fund created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. Those funds were intended to help America become less reliant on China for critical supplies like lithium-ion batteries.
Microvast was one of 20 companies chosen, despite maintaining a “substantial portion” of its operations in China.
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Read MoreLiberal-appointed Senator Yuen Pau Woo (B.C.) in remarks published more than a week after the expulsion of a Chinese spy complained of “extreme anti-China sentiment” in Canada. Woo urged Canadians to sign a Commons petition against a registry of foreign agents.
“Our better instincts have been compromised by the extreme anti-China sentiment that has spilled over into the toxic stigmatization of Canadians who are associated with the People’s Republic of China because of their ancestry, business ties or professional interests,” Woo wrote in an Ottawa periodical Policy Options magazine.
The article was published May 16, eight days after cabinet ordered the expulsion of Chinese spy Zhao Wei for targeting the family of a Member of Parliament. It was the first expulsion of a diplomat from Canada in five years.
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Read MoreHuge Delegation In Montréal
China has more “diplomats” assigned to Montréal than any other country including France, according to new figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The House affairs committee has been told the number of Chinese envoys in Canada is suspiciously high.
The department in an updated report Diplomatic, Consular & Other Representatives In Canada said it accredited 138 Chinese diplomats nationwide including 18 in Montréal. China had no agents in Montréal until it opened its consulate there in 2011.
The House affairs committee at a February 7 hearing was told the number of Chinese diplomats in Canada was high compared to other countries. “I counted up the number of diplomats accredited to Canada by various countries,” testified Charles Burton, a former Canadian envoy to China. “It does make me wonder,” he said.
New figures updated to this past March 31 show the list of 138 Chinese diplomats compares to 161 Americans, 60 Japanese, 48 Mexicans, 38 Germans, 35 Indians, 33 French, 33 Saudis, 31 Russians, 30 South Koreans, 28 Filipinos, 27 Britons, 24 Italians, 18 Australians, 15 Cubans, 24 Ukrainians, 12 Vietnamese and five New Zealanders.
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Read MoreFormer Conservative leader Erin O’Toole met with Special Rapporteur David Johnston about Chinese election interference, but it was “nothing more than a box checking exercise.”
David Johnston
Image courtesy of CBC
O’Toole, who led the Conservatives in the 2021 election, was given only a few days to prepare for the meeting and did not have a Canada Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) briefing before the meeting.
“I was still waiting to receive a CSIS briefing on foreign interference that had been promised the week before when my office was called by the Johnston team and told we only had two days to make the meeting work,” said O’Toole.
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Read MoreSpecial rapporteur David Johnston stopped short of calling for a public inquiry on Chinese election interference because of classified material would make it impossible.
But Johnston gave five other recommendations Tuesday morning.
First, Johnston said foreign government interference is a “real and growing threat.”
Second, the media “misconstrued” their reporting of the relevant intelligence reports.
Third, there are “serious shortcomings” in transferring intelligence from the security agencies to the federal government.
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Read MoreOn Thursday during the G7 leaders summit in Japan, Prime Minister Trudeau called out Meloni as she sat next to him with a stunned look on her face.
“Canada is concerned about some of the positioning that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights, but I look forward to talking with you,” Trudeau said in front of reporters and Meloni.
Meloni and Trudeau later spoke behind closed doors. Since then, she has responded to Trudeau’s criticism by stating that since she’s become PM, her government hasn’t passed any legislation related to LGBT rights.
Meloni said Trudeau’s remark “doesn’t correspond to reality.”
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Read MoreThe City of Calgary is cancelling its massive Canada Day fireworks show and replacing it with a light show due to climate impacts.
The city said there are cultural sensitivities related to ongoing efforts at truth and reconciliation with Canada’s First Nations. It says it believes the changes will mitigate disruptive traffic, noise, and overcrowding issues at city viewpoints.
The city also says a light show will be friendlier for wildlife, like birds.
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Read MoreDuring last week’s Summit meeting in Seoul, between Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, there was speculation in the media that those talks involved a potential submarine deal between Korea and Canada, as Ottawa plans to replace our aging submarine fleet.
Trudeau is the first Canadian Prime Minister to visit Korea in nine years, and this Summit commemorated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
However, Korean media outlets reported that the two leaders would be discussing mutual cooperation in defence projects with a particular focus on Canada’s submarine replacement program.
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Read MoreInvestments in China by Canada’s largest public pension funds are facing increased scrutiny amid worsening relations between the two countries and allegations that some of those investments are funding the oppression of China’s Uyghur minority.
Recently, representatives of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, which manages the pensions of B.C. public sector workers, told a parliamentary committee studying Canada-China relations that they had paused new direct investment in China because of the increasing risks associated with that country.
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Read MoreAmid China’s increased assertiveness in global affairs and reports of its interference in the domestic affairs of Canada and other countries, a House of Commons committee report is putting additional pressure on the government to create a foreign agent registry to address the threat.
The report, published May 17, was released in response to Beijing’s “increasingly assertive stance in global affairs, along with its intrusions in the domestic matters of other nations,” which have prompted many countries to reevaluate their relationship and policies toward the regime, the Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship (CACN) said in a news release.
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