MACLEOD: Canada faces a choice — Beijing or Washington

MACLEOD: Canada faces a choice — Beijing or Washington

The dispute between Canada and the United States (US) is usually described as another argument over tariffs. Steel, aluminum, automobiles, and agriculture dominate the headlines, but those are the visible symptoms of a much larger disagreement.

Washington is trying to build a protected North American economic and security bloc capable of competing with China. Mark Carney is trying to reduce Canada’s dependence on the US by expanding trade with China, Europe, and other markets. Those strategies are now colliding, and Canada cannot pretend indefinitely that it can pursue both.

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Mark Carney’s Smuggler’s Blues – Canada’s tariff tantrum has a China problem.

Mark Carney’s Smuggler’s Blues – Canada’s tariff tantrum has a China problem.

Brabim Karki’s piece here at The American Spectator on Monday about the breakoff in trade talks between the U.S. and Canada is a must-read, though it’s a little incomplete (and this column is an attempt to fill in a gap). Karki notes, and quite accurately so…

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China Media Hails Canada’s ‘Chinese-Style’ Tariff Retaliation

China Media Hails Canada’s ‘Chinese-Style’ Tariff Retaliation

China’s nationalist tabloid Global Times praised Canada’s retaliation against US tariffs, casting Ottawa’s move as validating Beijing’s opposition to Washington’s protectionist trade policies.

Calling Canada’s action “Chinese-style counterattack,” the newspaper said in an editorial Monday that the government’s decision shows that “more countries are realizing that concessions toward the US do not necessarily bring respect and stability.”


Carney does not want a deal, not with the US, unless China says so.

Oh look who’s back!

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Why is the Carney government inviting China’s propaganda machine into Canada?

Why is the Carney government inviting China’s propaganda machine into Canada?

Six months after Mark Carney’s historic trip to China, the first for a Canadian prime minister in nearly a decade, CBC announced it will reopen its Beijing bureau. Pending final approvals, a Canadian journalist will be permanently working in mainland China for the first time in years.

The bureau shuttered in 2022, after Beijing would not renew its correspondent’s visa. But that was when the Canadian government viewed the country as one of our greatest security threats. Today, the Canadian government says China is our “strategic partner.”

More Canadian journalists on the ground to cover a world superpower is welcome news. But will they be safe from documented spying, arrest, and harassment? What will they actually be allowed to report on?

(Alternate link)

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The Arctic: China Taking Over the Top of the World

The Arctic: China Taking Over the Top of the World

This month, China’s Sea Legend Shipping launched the first regular container service through the Arctic, along what it calls the “Ice Silk Road.” The route, dubbed “China-Europe Arctic Express,” connects Ningbo, on China’s east coast, with England’s Felixstowe. The Chinese-run shipper plans eight voyages this summer season from this month to early October.

Sea Legend, which will use Russia’s Northern Sea Route, promises to cut in half the current 40-day sailing time.

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House public safety committee to hold special meeting on accused NATO spy

House public safety committee to hold special meeting on accused NATO spy

OTTAWA — The House of Commons public safety committee will meet Monday to decide whether to investigate potential security screening failures, after a Canadian woman was arrested in Belgium for allegedly spying on NATO.

On July 25, Belgian authorities announced the arrest of a “Canadian national of Chinese origin” on suspicion of spying for a third country while working as an intern at NATO’s central military headquarters in southern Belgium. The suspect was subsequently identified as Biwei “Claire” Zhang, a computer science and systems engineering graduate in her early 30s who’d previously held positions at multiple Canadian federal agencies.

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LILLEY: Canada’s trade folly? Courting China while clashing with America

LILLEY: Canada’s trade folly? Courting China while clashing with America

“For us this is not a trade war,” Jamieson Greer said last week.

It’s a statement at odds with how Canadians have viewed the ongoing trade dispute with the United States. It’s not the first time that Greer, Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator, has made those remarks; he’s also not the first senior American official to dispute the idea that Canada is in a trade war with the United States.

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‘It’s going to happen again’: Former CSIS head on how China snuck a spy into Canada’s NATO mission

‘It’s going to happen again’: Former CSIS head on how China snuck a spy into Canada’s NATO mission

Earlier last month, Belgian authorities arrested Biwei Zhang, a Canadian intern of Chinese origin working at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, on suspicion of espionage. Prosecutors say she is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country—identified by Reuters as China—and of belonging to a criminal organization. Before her posting to NATO, Zhang had worked across the Canadian federal government, including stints at the National Research Council, Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and the Canadian Space Agency. She even cleared a CSIS and RCMP background check, despite a 2023 finding that she had committed fraud.

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US says dozens of countries including Canada helped China dodge Trump’s tariffs

US says dozens of countries including Canada helped China dodge Trump’s tariffs

The White House said in a report on Thursday that more than 40 countries had helped China sidestep US tariffs by routing exports through nations that face lower American import duties.

The countries named include Canada, India, Mexico, Japan and South Korea, which the White House said had helped China evade tens of billions of dollars in tariffs, which are levied on companies importing goods.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said it had cost “American jobs and billions in revenue”.


Given Carney’s love of China it’s no surprise.

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Conservatives, Bloc want probe into Canadian NATO intern spying allegations

Conservatives, Bloc want probe into Canadian NATO intern spying allegations

Conservative and Bloc MPs have called for an emergency meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee to probe espionage allegations against a Canadian former intern arrested by Belgian authorities on suspicion of espionage.

“These allegations are deeply concerning and raise serious questions about Canada’s national security screening processes,” Conservative MP Frank Caputo said in a statement on Thursday.

“Parliament must determine whether there were gaps in Canada’s security screening system and whether those gaps could have exposed sensitive information or put the security of Canada and our allies at risk.”

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Liberal MP faces scrutiny over reported China trip while claiming Ottawa expenses and voting in House

Liberal MP faces scrutiny over reported China trip while claiming Ottawa expenses and voting in House

CALGARY — One Liberal MP, Shaun Chen has some questionable travel expenses that show him traveling from Toronto to Ottawa on the same date TikTok clips show him in China.

Chen, the current MP for Scarborough North, announced he would be retiring from his role on Monday, though this will not take effect until Saturday.

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Chinese-owned dairy processor received $24M from feds while targeting foreign markets

Chinese-owned dairy processor received $24M from feds while targeting foreign markets

Recently the Food Professor, or Sylvain Charlebois, has pointed out the lack of innovation in the Canadian dairy industry — which he says has partly been caused by the lack of Canadian sovereignty in the industry, with many of its processors having become internationally owned.

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The CCP Wants a Say in Who Leads Canadian Parties—and Has Worked Against O’Toole and Poilievre

The CCP Wants a Say in Who Leads Canadian Parties—and Has Worked Against O’Toole and Poilievre

OTTAWA – I joined Brian Lilley for a wide-ranging conversation that started with the machinery of Beijing’s foreign influence in Canada and Conservative leadership politics, then moved into MP Larry Brock’s departure and Brian’s explosive scoop: Brock disclosed to his party leaders that Mark Carney’s party had dangled a judicial appointment before him amid Carney’s floor-crossing campaign.


Related …

h/t Hermes

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What the NATO intern spy charges say about public service security screening

What the NATO intern spy charges say about public service security screening

After a Canadian national working as a NATO intern in Belgium was arrested on suspicion of espionage, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canadian officials have been involved from the start.

“Any time you have a situation, you should take stock and take lessons from this,” Carney said in response to questions from reporters on Aug. 5.

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Former Vancouver Mayor Says CCP Likely Interfering in Upcoming BC Municipal Elections

Former Vancouver Mayor Says CCP Likely Interfering in Upcoming BC Municipal Elections

Former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he believes interference by the Chinese regime is likely taking place ahead of the upcoming municipal elections.

Stewart, who led Vancouver from 2018 to 2022, says little has been done to prevent vulnerabilities that he says China exploited and which contributed to his 2022 re-election loss.

“I don’t think it’s resolved itself, and I’m sure there’s going to be interference in this election too, because nothing’s been done,” Stewart said in an Aug. 6 interview with political podcast host Aaron Pete.

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