{"id":70524,"date":"2023-04-12T16:50:53","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T21:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=70524"},"modified":"2023-04-13T16:58:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T21:58:46","slug":"02230412-%e5%8f%b0%e6%b9%be%e7%9a%84%e6%88%98%e6%96%97%e5%b0%b1%e6%98%af%e5%8a%a0%e6%8b%bf%e5%a4%a7%e7%9a%84%e6%88%98%e6%96%97%ef%bc%8c%e5%9b%bd%e4%bc%9a%e8%ae%ae%e5%91%98%e8%aa%93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jackjia.com\/?p=70524","title":{"rendered":"20230412\/\u201c\u53f0\u6e7e\u7684\u6218\u6597\u5c31\u662f\u52a0\u62ff\u5927\u7684\u6218\u6597\u201d\uff0c\u56fd\u4f1a\u8bae\u5458\u8a93\u8a00"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid Chinese aggression, \u2018Taiwan\u2019s fight is Canada\u2019s fight,\u2019 MPs vow<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Jeff Semple Global News
\nPosted April 12, 2023 11:13 pm<\/p>\n

A delegation of Canadian MPs arrived in Taiwan this week for a multi-day visit, marking the latest show of Western support for the island following the Taiwanese president\u2019s trip to the U.S. last week. Jeff Semple reports on the delegation, and what it hopes to accomplish with the visit.<\/p>\n

A delegation of Canadian politicians met with the president of Taiwan in Taipei Wednesday to discuss the Chinese government\u2019s military aggression and allegations of foreign interference.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven as we arrived here, there\u2019s 160 warplanes flying overhead and they\u2019re carrying on naval exercises,\u201d said Liberal MP John McKay, referencing this week\u2019s Chinese military exercises.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur message to them is that Taiwan\u2019s fight is Canada\u2019s fight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 10 Canadian MPs included representatives from the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Quebecois. They wore pins on their lapels bearing the Taiwanese and Canadian flags and were greeted with a warm smile and handshakes by President Tsai Ing-wen.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada is a very important democratic partner,\u201d Tsai told the delegation from her podium in a briefing room inside the Presidential Office Building.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaced with continued authoritarian expansionism, it is even more critical for democracies to actively unite.\u201d<\/p>\n

A delegation of Canadian MPs poses for a photo after arriving in Taipei, Taiwan on April 10, 2023. Canadian Trade Office in Taipei\/Facebook<\/p>\n

The Canadian MPs presented Tsai with a hardcopy of a report that passed unanimously last month by the House of Commons\u2019 special committee on Canada-China relations, which called for closer ties with Taiwan and an end to Chinese military encroachment.<\/p>\n

Previous visits by Canadian politicians to Taiwan, like the one last year, have largely focused on issues such as trade. But the conversation on this trip carried a much starker tone.<\/p>\n

Taiwan\u2019s representative in Canada, Harry Ho-jen Tseng, who travelled with the delegation, said Taipei\u2019s relationship with Ottawa is being reshaped by an increasingly bold and brazen Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the relations between Canada and Taiwan have been very comprehensive over the past years, at this particular point of time, the security issue and national defence seem to be more important than anything else,\u201d Tseng told Global News in Taipei.<\/p>\n

The Canadian delegation\u2019s security concerns centre on the Chinese government\u2019s alleged foreign interference in Canada\u2019s elections. During their week-long visit to the Taiwanese capital, which is being funded by Taipei, the Canadian MPs toured the offices of an NGO called Doublethink Lab, one of many groups that have sprung up in recent years to fact-check and debunk disinformation and Chinese government propaganda targeting Taiwan.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaiwan is kind of ground zero for Chinese disinformation,\u201d said Ai-Men Lau, a Canadian research analyst who works for the NGO.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s quite striking being here in Taiwan, seeing how Taiwanese civil society has really risen up to address the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Chong, the Conservative foreign affairs critic and a member of the delegation, said Canada can learn from the Taiwanese experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaiwan has long been subject to foreign interference from Beijing,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of lessons we can learn in how the Taiwanese government has built resilience in its population and its citizens and society against this foreign interference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opinion polls have consistently shown the vast majority of Taiwan\u2019s citizens want to remain a democracy and separate from China. But these high-profile meetings with democratic world leaders have at times proved polarizing here.<\/p>\n

After Tsai met last week with top U.S. officials, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Chinese government launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan, involving dozens of warplanes and ships.<\/p>\n

Some Taiwanese feel the diplomatic photo-ops aren\u2019t worth Beijing\u2019s wrath.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue has been divisive in Taiwan, because some think this is too provocative against China,\u201d said James Yifan Chen, an assistant professor at the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations of Tamkang University in Taipei.<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly, we want to maintain a so-called status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leader of Taiwan\u2019s pro-China reunification party and convicted former gang leader, Chang An-lo, said the Canadian delegation should go home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should mind their own business and solve their own problems before talking about these things. They need to reflect on themselves,\u201d he said, pointing to the Canadian government\u2019s mistreatment of Indigenous people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I should tell Canada how to deal with its Indigenous people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has so far not commented on the Canadian delegation in Taiwan. When asked by Global News whether they were concerned their visit might further provoke the Chinese government against Taiwan, the MPs shook their heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all, because these visits are part of a long-standing policy for decades amongst democracies of sending parliamentary delegations to Taiwan,\u201d said Chong.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has changed is Beijing\u2019s position. They\u2019ve become increasingly belligerent. And we can\u2019t appease that behaviour by kowtowing to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid Chinese aggression, ‘Taiwan’s fight is Canada’s fight,’ MPs vow<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n