China’s chief diplomat told Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly Friday that Beijing wants to “inject momentum into the restoration of normal relations,” but said the Asian power will brook no criticism of human-rights abuses or its menacing threats to the island democracy of Taiwan.
Foreign Minster Wang Yi sat down with Ms. Joly in Beijing to discuss what he called the “difficulties and twists and turns” in Sino-Canadian relations that have been strained for nearly six years. The trip to China by Ms. Joly was an attempt to reopen channels of dialogue.
Relations fractured after China imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in late 2018 in retaliation for Ottawa’s detention of a senior Huawei executive on a U.S. extradition warrant. China was also angered by revelations of its extensive influence operations in Canadian domestic affairs that led to a public inquiry into foreign interference.
Oh, is the wolf warrior now wondering why it doesn’t have any friends? Who’d have thought that being a belligerent bully would have consequences?
Probably because they began the genocidal sinicization of Tibet in 1950, yet the world largely ignored it while continuing to support the Chinese economy through manufacturing.
Only with the Uyghur genocide of the last decade have nations begun to care enough to criticize, likely due to their production of goods through forced labor.
Maybe the world would’ve cared sooner if they forced the Tibetan monks to make cheap plastic junk for Amazon and Walmart.
It is but it’s only accepting friendships with Chinese characteristics.
Still expecting others to be subservient and obsequiously pay tribute to the middle kingdom after all these years. You’d think they’d have permanently snapped out of it after they got clapped by a few metal ships ~180 years ago but they seem to have forgotten about that.
The funny thing is that the Belt and Road initiative as a way of buying friends has utterly failed. For example, China built a billion-dollar bridge in the Maldives connecting Malé with its airport on another island but public opinion of China in the Maldives is still low. That’s despite the fact that the entrance to the bridge has “China-Maldives Friendship Bridge” written in large letters on an arch over the carriageway.
If I were in Iran’s position I wouldn’t be too happy about a road into central Asia for tanks to race down and a rail line to resupply them.
The problem is, as bad as public opinion is amongst the public, the elected officials (this round) are the ones who sign the agreements for lockins the next 15-20 years. Their hands are greasy as fuck, I hear.