For us Canadians, the bullying dynamic extends considerably beyond dealing with Trump’s America. There has been a particular irritation noticeably expressed by the governments of China and increasingly India when our (Canada's) government — unlike with, notably, mighty American assertiveness — dares to anger and/or embarrass them, even when it’s on reasonable and just grounds.
China's leadership was particularly angered by the relatively-weak Canada having been the one to detain (on Dec.1, 2018) and hold on (albeit luxurious) house arrest Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive and daughter of the tech corporation’s founder. Considering that a U.S. arrest warrant obligated Canada to detain her, why didn’t Beijing publicly express similar bluster towards Washington D.C. and, most notably, the then first administration of Donald Trump? Because size thus capability definitely matters?
Instead, Beijing took the more cowardly path by arbitrarily detaining two Canadian men, commonly referred to by the news-media as “the 2 Michaels”, under bogus espionage charges effectively as human political hostages. Quite unlike Meng Wanzhou's “house arrest” in a luxurious Vancouver mansion, the 2 Michaels did comparably very hard time in mainland China for a total of 1,020 days. They just happened to be released at the same time as the Trump U.S. dropped its charges against Meng Wanzhou, who was then released, for something political and/or economic in return from China.
With India’s government, Canada dealt (at least somewhat) firmly after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist, was assassinated in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023. Undoubtedly already aware of the diplomatic furor likely to come, even at Canada’s expense, an investigation nonetheless resulted in Canada charging three Indian nationals for the murder.
… It might be that more national governments around the globe are feeling and expressing a growing sense of foreign relations and power-politics entitlement toward militarily and/or economically weaker nations, including Canada — one that we are expected to simply get used to.
For us Canadians, the bullying dynamic extends considerably beyond dealing with Trump’s America. There has been a particular irritation noticeably expressed by the governments of China and increasingly India when our (Canada's) government — unlike with, notably, mighty American assertiveness — dares to anger and/or embarrass them, even when it’s on reasonable and just grounds.
China's leadership was particularly angered by the relatively-weak Canada having been the one to detain (on Dec.1, 2018) and hold on (albeit luxurious) house arrest Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive and daughter of the tech corporation’s founder. Considering that a U.S. arrest warrant obligated Canada to detain her, why didn’t Beijing publicly express similar bluster towards Washington D.C. and, most notably, the then first administration of Donald Trump? Because size thus capability definitely matters?
Instead, Beijing took the more cowardly path by arbitrarily detaining two Canadian men, commonly referred to by the news-media as “the 2 Michaels”, under bogus espionage charges effectively as human political hostages. Quite unlike Meng Wanzhou's “house arrest” in a luxurious Vancouver mansion, the 2 Michaels did comparably very hard time in mainland China for a total of 1,020 days. They just happened to be released at the same time as the Trump U.S. dropped its charges against Meng Wanzhou, who was then released, for something political and/or economic in return from China.
With India’s government, Canada dealt (at least somewhat) firmly after Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh separatist, was assassinated in Surrey, B.C., on June 18, 2023. Undoubtedly already aware of the diplomatic furor likely to come, even at Canada’s expense, an investigation nonetheless resulted in Canada charging three Indian nationals for the murder.
… It might be that more national governments around the globe are feeling and expressing a growing sense of foreign relations and power-politics entitlement toward militarily and/or economically weaker nations, including Canada — one that we are expected to simply get used to.