DZSURDZSA: Canada is now a pawn in the U.S. - China trade war

The arrest of Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver is proving to be a foreign affairs nightmare. It seems that Chrystia Freeland is in denial about this fact. Currently Wanzhou is being held in Canada for extradition to the U.S. for allegedly having a hand in breaking U.S.-Iran trade sanction restrictions. “I think it’s really important for Canadians to understand, that this was not in any way a political decision. There was no political interference as the Prime Minister has said. None at all,” she said while at the International Economic Forum of the Americas.

Minister Freeland seems to think that Canadians are gullible enough to believe that the highest levels of government had no hand in the arrest of a high profile Chinese national on Canadian soil.

Arrest has implications in international politics and trade

Perhaps she should try telling that to the Chinese, who have recently detained former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig under unclear circumstances. I wonder what charges will be laid against the man who pioneered Justin Trudeau’s 2016 visit to Hong Kong. Perhaps it’ll be conspiracy, or the Chinese government will even trump up charges of espionage? Really, it doesn’t matter. It’s all a ploy to put pressure on Canada in the hopes of attaining Wanzhou’s eventual release. Yet if Canada budges one way, even giving an inch to the Chinese, we can be sure that the Americans will retaliate. The sequence of events initiated by Wanzhou’s arrest are the very definition of political. In fact, the political implications will have unprecedented influence on international trade, our recent NAFTA agreement and the political climate worldwide. In this, Canada is wittingly playing the mediator of a long and drawn out scuffle between the United States and China. The U.S. has sought to curb the activities of Huawei for years now, citing security concerns and potential digital espionage avenues embedded in their technology. The extradition request, is just another move in an increasingly freezing trade war between the two giants, and Canada is currently the chess piece being played.

Government is trying to avoid responsibility

Right now we are in between a rock and a hard place, being moved around as a pawn by greater powers. Yet instead of trying to take responsibility for their decisions, the current government would rather pass culpability further down the line. “This was a decision as…I would even say an action taken as all extradition arrests are at an official’s level in keeping with our international obligations,” Freeland continues. So which one was it? Was it a decision or an action? And what international obligations is Freeland even talking about? On one hand, Justin Trudeau so desperately desires increased trade with protectionist China, while China is in no hurry to rejoin his overtures. And on the other hand, Canada signed the USMCA and everybody knows that President Donald Trump can use aluminum tariffs as a pressure point to get his way.

What happened to Freeland's defense of Iran?

If the official reason is non-compliance to U.S. sanctions on Iran, where is Freeland’s former fierce defense of the Islamic Republic? In fact, it was the Trudeau government who decided to lift Canadian trade sanctions from the nation soon after coming into power. When did Canada become the enforcer of U.S. trade sanctions it currently has no part in? The current situation with China is about as political as it gets, and our government needs to stop denying responsibility and start making the tough decisions that are in Canada’s best interest. Although Freeland and Trudeau like to play it tough in front of the cameras, it’s clear that under their direction, Canada’s fate is increasingly dictated by foreign powers.