A rchive Date
[ 26-01-2019 ]
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[ International Relations ]
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[ Canada ]
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[https://nationalpost.com/opinion/np-view-the-chinese-stakes-are-too-high-to-tolerate-ambassadors-going-rogue
The Chinese Stakes Are Too High To Tolerate Ambassadors Going Rogue
National Post View
January 25, 2019 5:10 PM EST
Canada almost had a good week in the realm of foreign policy. Almost.
To start with the good news, Canada has done the right thing by aligning itself with the U.S., France and other democratic countries in recognizing the head of Venezuela’s opposition as the rightful leader of that imprisoned nation.
A proper recounting of the crimes of putative president Nicholás Maduro would take up this entire space; adding those of his predecessor, the thuggish Hugo Chavez, would take just as long. Suffice it to say that under their rule, Venezuela, a country rich in natural resources and human capital, has been brought to economic ruin and the brink of societal collapse by a classically inept, hard-line socialist government. And as the country’s economy predictably imploded, the corrupt gangster government in Caracas has pursued ever more draconian measures to maintain its grip on power.
The situation is grim. Basic staple foods are now in chronic short supply. The population is malnourished. When public utilities operate, it’s for just hours a day even in major cities. Venezuela’s health-care system wants for even basic supplies. The army has used violent force to suppress entirely justified public protests, and the government has increasingly relied on Cuba, Iran, China and other autocratic regimes for support as its international standing evaporates and its currency inflates out of meaningful existence.
Maduro has rammed through a series of legislative changes to neuter the country’s democratic institutions, leaving the military the only real broker of power - a military he commands.
It’s an outrage, and it has gone on far too long. Juan Guaidó, a young member of the country’s effectively sidelined democratic assembly, has declared himself president, and has received rapid recognition from many major democracies, Canada included. There will be no easy path back to stability and prosperity for Venezuela, and Guaidó may yet prove to be an imperfect instrument of change. But he is currently the best available path out of this.
Under the current regime, Venezuela is less a country than a perverse experiment in just how deprived and dysfunctional a theoretically coherent nation-state can become before collapsing into anarchy. Thirty-two million Venezuelans deserve better. Now Canada has risen with others to demand it, choosing to be on the right side of history. Well done.
That’s the good news. Here’s the bad. Canada remains locked in a tense diplomatic standoff with China, a major power that has angrily detained Canadians in protest (to put it mildly) of Canada’s lawful detention of Meng Wanzhou. Meng is an executive with the powerful Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, and was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. Justice Department pending extradition to face charges of fraud related to evading sanctions against Iran.
The dispute between Canada and China has grown ugly, but Canada has secured public expressions of support from many of its allies. China’s attempt to bully and intimidate Canada wasn’t working, and had, rather, rallied others to our side. The well-being of our detained citizens remains concerning, but the dispute did not seem to be going well for China.
Enter John McCallum.
McCallum, a long-time Toronto-area Liberal MP and former cabinet minister, was made Canada’s ambassador to China two years ago. This week, while back in Canada on Liberal party business, the ambassador gave a press briefing to Chinese-language media - major English-language news organizations were not invited - where he laid out, in detail, potential legal avenues Meng could pursue while fighting her extradition, and suggested she might have a strong defence.
He also added that it would be unfortunate if Meng were extradited, evidently unconcerned by the possibility that she may eventually be found guilty of the serious crimes she’s accused of committing.
It was a remarkably shocking display from our ambassador.
Our ambassadors represent Canada abroad. They do not typically offer a personal legal analysis favourable to foreign citizens detained, lawfully, in Canada.
Canada has carefully managed the standoff with China. It’s hard to fathom what on earth McCallum was doing publicly expressing a position that seemed to question the actions of Canadian authorities while revealing a political position on an issue that Ottawa has insisted will be handled without interference through proper legal channels.
McCallum eventually withdrew his remarks, saying that he’d misspoken.
That’s preposterous. McCallum did not err while speaking extemporaneously, caught in a scrum or a heated interview off guard and off script. He called a press conference where he spoke coolly, at length and in detail. His eventual expression of regret in no way changes what he did. For several days this week, it wasn’t clear exactly which side McCallum was on.
That’s a decidedly sub-optimal situation when the individual is literally our ambassador to a truculent foreign power.
Of course, the Liberal government must answer for what it knew about all this and when: As our columnist Rex Murphy asks nearby, is it really possible that a Canadian ambassador and veteran Liberal operative arranged this press briefing, ready to offer his charged remarks, without the PMO or Foreign Affairs being involved? It seems unlikely.
But as long as McCallum claims to have been acting on his own, in error, the more pressing matter of the moment is his ability to properly represent Canada in China given the high stakes, including the safety of Canadian citizens trapped abroad. The Conservatives are calling for McCallum to be sacked.
It is surely warranted.
He’s clearly shown a lack of discretion and a dangerously loose tongue. Most importantly, Beijing must be made to see that Canada will not accept McCallum’s admixing of justice and politics. The prime minister may not relish the prospect of firing an ambassador in the midst of a crisis; let him call it an early retirement, then. It certainly appears McCallum could use a break from the pressures of the job.
© 2019 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
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