Focus on China: Ottawa Forum Debunks Illusion of Prosperity

On the eve of Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao’s arrival in Ottawa last Thursday, a “Focus on China” forum, hosted by MP David Kilgour and China Insight, a Canadian non-profit organization, offered a glimpse into the inner workings of Hu’s regime.

While Hu’s visit was to centre around strengthening economic ties between China and Canada, the forum focused on human rights, albeit in the context of trade.

China Insight’s President, Jean Zhi, cited The Epoch Times’ editorial series “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” as a source of information critical to understanding China and its current developments. Published last November, the “Nine Commentaries” is a comprehensive account of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) history of brutality and deception, advocacy of violent revolution, and destruction of traditional values and beliefs.

The series’ contents were the overarching theme of the forum, held at the University of Ottawa. Last month the commentaries were awarded top honours by the Asian American Journalists Association in the “Asian American Issues: Online” category. Inspired by the commentaries, the wave of Chinese renouncing their membership from the CCP and related organizations has recently exceeded 4 million, and the number is growing at over 5,000 per day.

The forum’s panel consisted of Kilgour, professor and sociologist Barclay Johnson, former diplomat Brian McAdam, and Dr. Frank Ye, editor of Chinascope, a US-based magazine dedicated to China issues.

McAdam cautioned Canada not to take a “Pollyanna” approach toward China, mistaking myths for reality, especially when it comes to hopes for profit. He noted that only a minority of companies that have invested in China are actually making any profit, and that trade with China has reportedly led to the loss of tens of thousands of Canadian jobs.

Canada’s trade deficit with China was more than $17 billion in 2004, according to Canadian government sources.

The CCP, with an abominable record of human rights, is responsible for the deaths of an estimated 47-75 million people, McAdam said. Emphasizing that the CCP is not benign, he urged Canadian leaders to seriously understand the CCP’s strategy of trade, influence buying, espionage, and alliance with Chinese organized crime, ultimately to achieve modern military buildup to support its own aims. Underlining the CCP’s totalitarianism, promotion of war, and disregard for morality and popular consent, Johnson noted that appeasement of communism does not work, nor does strengthening ties by increased trade alone.

“Why can’t our government see that when China becomes democratic, our trade with China will increase and that the Canadian economy will benefit from this increase?” he asked, adding that “The struggle against the Chinese government is not only political and economic; it also has a spiritual dimension.”

Ye echoed this view. He spoke on the “two faces” of China. The first is the CCP’s side, a one-party system without checks, balances, or rule of law. The second is the people’s side, with emphasis on Confucian virtues and a demand for a just and humane society.

“People in the West need to recognize the two different Chinas. It is morally wrong to side with the CCP, and it is dangerous for the world to prop up a Communist regime against Chinese people,” Ye said.

He cited several developments that are helping the people’s side of China overcome the obstacle of the CCP to reach a humane society. They include new technology such as the Internet and satellite TV, and overseas Chinese media such as Chinascope magazine, The Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty Television, and the Sound of Hope radio station.

Kilgour, former Chair of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Human Rights, said that by looking closely at contemporary Chinese history, “we see exactly how disregard for human rights concerns has propped up China’s economy. The government still relies on prison labour, lacks independent trade unions, and suffers under the deeply engrained corruption of the non-elected CCP.” With growing income disparity and a rising number of protests (74,000 in 2004), China is at a perilous crossroads of social instability, he cautioned.

What to do? Kilgour urged China to make improvements in governance and human rights to better conform to internationally accepted values and norms. He also called on Canada to base its foreign policy with China not on commercial interests alone but also on human rights, at a minimum refusing to tolerate rights violations in Canada such as “intimidation, threats, espionage, or attempted censorship.”

Restrictions on freedom of expression have recently increased, as has the persecution of Muslims, Falun Gong practitioners, and adherents of other spiritual and religious groups. Carole Channer, China specialist at Amnesty International Canada, commented earlier this month that human rights abuses in China have worsened in the last six months.