Standing up …

OK, a couple of days ago I said, “Prime Minister Justin. Trudeau should listen to former Prime Minister Turnbull, to his own national security and military advisors and to his allies who advise standing up to China.“

How?

• Well, for a start ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network. Don’t do it on technical grounds. Do it, publicly, on national security grounds. Do it, publicly, because China is acting like a bully and using hostage diplomacy against us.
• Second, turn, publicly, towards India and other friendly Asian nations ~ including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam ~ for enhanced trade relationships;
  • Included, in #2, above, send Canadian warships and aircraft to join with friendly nations in East Asia to assert everyone’s freedom of navigation in the South China Seas, and
    • Concomitantly, but still, in a friendly and peaceful manner, assert our own rights to control the Arctic waters to which we lay claim;
• Third, try to make CANZUK and even CANZUK+ work; and
• Finally, disavow the pro-China lobby which exists, I believe, at the highest levels inside the Liberal Party of Canada.

None of these measures, not even the first one, are likely to appeal to Justin Trudeau’s government. They go against every instinct that I can detect … there’s nothing there that will appeal to Jean Chrétien or Greta Thunberg or separatist (BQ) leader Yves-François Blanchet. But those few simple, but not inexpensive, things are all within Canada’s reach, even during a global pandemic. All that’s required is a government that puts Canada first. Sadly, we haven’t had one of those since October 2015.