Author: Blazingcatfur

OTTAWA – Within the span of a few days last week, on opposite sides of the world, two democracies revealed how differently they answer the same threat.

In Taipei, the Supreme Court handed down back-to-back rulings upholding prison sentences for two political candidates convicted of taking Beijing’s money to subvert Taiwan’s elections. In Brussels, a Canadian woman of Chinese origin — an intern inside the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military command — stood behind closed doors as a pre-trial chamber weighed espionage allegations.

Carney looks to influential outsiders to head Canada’s embassy in Beijing, sources say

Martin Cauchon, a vice-chair of the Canada China Business Council lobby group and former Liberal cabinet minister, is under consideration to be Ottawa’s envoy to China as both countries work to mend fractured diplomatic and economic ties, three sources say.

Mr. Cauchon, a justice minister in Jean Chrétien’s government, has a long history of developing close business ties with China. Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking a business-friendly relationship with Beijing as he looks to diversify trade away from the United States. He has set out to double non-U.S. exports globally over the next decade.