First Saudi Arabia, now China — Canada has a new foe, and its southern ally isn’t helping
' First DT attacked Canada on trade. Then Saudi Arabia punished it for speaking up for human rights. Now China has the country in its cross-hairs, detaining two Canadians in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive on behalf of the United States.
Canada is caught between two super powers and taking the punishment — and its ally to the south has been conspicuously absent in coming to its aid.
“We’ve never been this alone,” historian Robert Bothwell said. “We don’t have any serious allies. And I think that’s another factor in what the Chinese are doing. … Our means of retaliation are very few. China is a hostile power.”
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It’s Canada’s second dispute with a major power this year. In June, DT vowed to make Canada pay after Trudeau said he wouldn’t be pushed around in talks to hammer out a new North American trade agreement, an unprecedented attack on America’s closest ally. DT called Trudeau weak and dishonest, words that shocked Canadians.
Then DT said this week that he might intervene in the Huawei case if it would help clinch a trade agreement with China, upending U.S. efforts to separate the court proceeding from U.S.-China trade talks and contradicting Canadian officials who said the arrest was not political.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland took a swipe at DT, saying it was “quite obvious” any foreign country requesting extradition should ensure “the process is not politicized.”
“Normally, Canada can count on the United States to back them up on such an issue,” said Laura Dawson, a former economic adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa and director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington. Dawson said it’s unusual for Washington to “leave Canada hanging high and dry.”
“DT has made it clear that old alliances don’t matter so much anymore,” she said. “He has made no secret of his preference for a go-it-alone approach and his lack of regard for traditional alliances.”
In years past the U.S. might have defended Canada when came it under attack and other countries would know the U.S. had Canada’s back. Not now. In August, the Saudi government expelled Canada’s ambassador to the kingdom and withdrew its own ambassador after Canada’s foreign ministry tweeted support for an arrested Saudi activist. The Saudis also sold Canadian investments and ordered their citizens studying in Canada to leave. No country, including the U.S., spoke out publicly in support of Canada.
And now the stakes are much higher. Canada is one of the few countries in the world unabashedly speaking out in defense of human rights and the international rule of law. And Chinese trade with Canada is increasingly key as Canada looks to boost its exports in Asia as its trade with the U.S. is threatened by DT’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
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Christopher Sands of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington said the world took note of how DT treated Canada during trade negotiations and how the U.S. stayed silent when Saudi Arabia overreacted to Canada’s expression of human rights concerns over treatment of the Saudi dissident.
“In normal times, the U.S. sends a signal, usually discreetly, to allies to cut it out and play nice,” Sands said.
“What makes this worse is that China is lashing out at Canada not for Canada’s initiative, but for Canada’s honoring of a U.S. warrant. The damage done by our silence in terms of alliance relations is truly awful,” he said.'
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Canada's relationship with Trump reaches a 'new level of frustration' over Huawei comments
'The Americans are hoping to have Meng extradited on claims she tried to bypass American trade sanctions on Iran and lied to U.S. banks. Canada has argued that the request to detain Meng was made at the officials' level and was not politically motivated.
DT, however, has said publicly he's willing to intervene in the case if it would help further his country's interests with China on security or trade — a statement that many saw as tainting the extradition process.
The senior source, who has direct knowledge of the situation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said DT's comments were not helpful.'
Jim
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