Lost in the Headlines
China continues to press Canada in the cruelest way
Do not forget, four Canadians citizens had their death by execution confirmed by the People’s Republic of China last week. The PRC’s announcement coincided with Chinese retaliatory tariffs.
The legacy U.S. and other Western media outlets have made a lot of hay over the ongoing tariff disputes between the U.S. and Canada. The media has shown a clear biased agenda to attack and stir up U.S. and Western wide opposition to “all things” Trump from tariffs to peace negotiations it is a constant drone of stirring up anti-American and anti-Trump policies. Is this what former President Joe Biden meant when he stated the “grownups were back in charge”. There are certainly legitimate policy issues that should be challenged and debated, but the media and opposition has taken another course and dozens of burning Tesla’s of private citizens later; here we are.
The opposition which includes most of the mainstream outlets, of which many of them government supported, has practiced malfeasance to its constituents and audiences. The tariff dispute between Canada and the U.S. is the primary and heated headline on both sides of the border but is not being discussed is the much more serious dispute between China and Canada.
This week, on March 20th, China issued retaliatory tariffs against Canada that ranged from 100% on Canadian canola and pea products to 25% against fish and pork. China stated this was in retaliation for Ottawa placing a 100% tariff on Chinese made EVs and 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum.
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner, so Canada finds itself in a trade dispute and tariffs by both its number one, the United States, and its number two trading partners. However, China was not content with just tariffs and this week it announced that it executed four Canadian citizens (the individuals were dual citizens) for varying non-violent drug offenses. Canada appealed for China to grant clemency, but this was soundly ignored by Beijing.
China stated that the Canadians were executed earlier this year, and it can only be surmised that China confirmed the executions on the day of the tariffs to maximize the impact against Canada.
The Chinese version of an MSM mouthpiece, the Global Times, stated in the most callous tone stating that Canada should respect China’s rule of law according to its Foreign Ministry, and Lu Xiang from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences stated “While Canada's opposition to the death penalty is understandable from its perspective, using it to interfere with China's legal system and judicial decisions will not be tolerated…”
Lu Xiang added that this was just a minor dispute between the two countries, announced the day that tariffs were effective, and that it should not affect the Chinese - Canadian relationships of which he added “I think the Canadian government should focus on educating its own citizens about the serious risks involved in engaging in drug trafficking in China…” Lu is not a member of the Chinese government but since the quote is in the Global Times, it can be assumed this was the Chinese government position.
Four Canadian citizens had their executions, which were expected, confirmed the day the tariffs went into effect against China and there was no real outrage from either the government in Ottawa or from Western media. The story was reported, but there was no outrage or calls for retaliation as seen from Ottawa directed against Washington. It was reported matter of facts just as one would provide the train schedule for the day.
The disparity in coverage and official outrage begs to ask the question “why” but I think the answer is already know on that question. This is an outrage against Canada and its citizens by Beijing, as they used the deaths of four Canadians, by their own hands, as a dagger to Canada and a warning that tariffs against China will be met by something more than just retaliatory tariffs.
Maybe Western politicians and the MSM should set aside personal animus and negotiate legitimate policy debates in good faith as grownups outside of sensationalistic headlines and never forget what a real adversary does.
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