Canada supports One-China

Great timing with what’s going in Tibet.

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Not that Canada is that significant in international affairs, but disappointing still.

[quote=“Globe and Mail”]The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has begun using what experts are calling “subtle but meaningful” shifts in diplomatic language in an effort to improve relations with China - changes that have drawn approval from Beijing.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier delivered a speech to Asian ambassadors behind closed doors in Ottawa last Wednesday, where he asserted, in unusually unqualified terms, Canada’s support for a “one-China policy.”

“We recognize the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China,” Mr. Bernier said, according to a text of his speech.

“This remains the core of our China policy. It guides our bilateral relationship with the PRC. It informs our position on Tibet. And it provides a framework that supports peace and security in the Taiwan Strait.”

Mr. Bernier also said Canada was concerned that the March 22 referendum on Taiwan joining the United Nations “needlessly escalates tensions across the Strait.”

On Thursday, when a backbench Conservative MP asked a planted question in the House of Commons about protests in Tibet, Mr. Bernier prefaced his expression of concern with an unusual preamble: “Canada has a one-China policy.”
[…]
The Conservatives had previously allied themselves with supporters of Taiwan’s positions and Tibetan autonomy - and Mr. Harper said in 2006 that he would pointedly press human-rights concerns with Beijing and not sell out to the “almighty dollar.”[/quote]
Well, that’s disappointing. A different approach to foreign affairs was – albeit hit and miss – one of few bright points for the Conservatives.

[quote=“Jaboney”][quote=“Globe and Mail”]The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has begun using what experts are calling “subtle but meaningful” shifts in diplomatic language in an effort to improve relations with China - changes that have drawn approval from Beijing.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier delivered a speech to Asian ambassadors behind closed doors in Ottawa last Wednesday, where he asserted, in unusually unqualified terms, Canada’s support for a “one-China policy.”

“We recognize the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China,” Mr. Bernier said, according to a text of his speech.

“This remains the core of our China policy. It guides our bilateral relationship with the PRC. It informs our position on Tibet. And it provides a framework that supports peace and security in the Taiwan Strait.”

Mr. Bernier also said Canada was concerned that the March 22 referendum on Taiwan joining the United Nations “needlessly escalates tensions across the Strait.”

On Thursday, when a backbench Conservative MP asked a planted question in the House of Commons about protests in Tibet, Mr. Bernier prefaced his expression of concern with an unusual preamble: “Canada has a one-China policy.”
[…]
The Conservatives had previously allied themselves with supporters of Taiwan’s positions and Tibetan autonomy - and Mr. Harper said in 2006 that he would pointedly press human-rights concerns with Beijing and not sell out to the “almighty dollar.”[/quote]
Well, that’s disappointing. A different approach to foreign affairs was – albeit hit and miss – one of few bright points for the Conservatives.[/quote]

Yeah, that is disappointing. They should be attacking Chretien and Martin’s policy of coddling Beijing instead of copying it. Chretien was recently criticizing the Conservatives over China. Another example of the Tories acting like Liberals once they get comfortable in Ottawa? :laughing:

thestar.com/News/Canada/article/310351

[quote=“Chewycorns”]Yeah, that is disappointing. [/quote]Couldn’t just leave it at that?

Nope. I call them as I see them. Another foreign policy mistake by the Conservatives was made today. They recognized Kosovo. Nothing like standing up for our WWII ally, eh? I’m with Lewis McKenzie and James Bissett, Canada’s former ambassador to Yugoslavia, on this one. Bisset said Kosovo is run by “narco criminals” and has no economic prospects. Retired Canadian general Lewis MacKenzie, who commanded UN troops during the Bosnian war of 1992, had a similar opinion. He said Kosovo is a failed state run by people who at one time could be considered criminal.

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