The Chinese embassy arranged a meeting with the University of Ottawa and filed a demarche, or protest, with Global Affairs over a university professor’s trip to Taipei for a forum on Indo-Pacific security
A University of Ottawa professor who once served as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy adviser said the Chinese embassy in Canada lodged protests with both his employer and the Department of Global Affairs over a trip he made to Taiwan in August. China
There are no rules preventing private Canadian citizens from visiting Taiwan. Canada’s official position, stated in a 1970 communiqué establishing formal ties with mainland China, is merely that it “takes note” of Beijing’s claim on Taiwan. Prof. Paris said while this sort of coercion pales in comparison with the types of foreign interference that are now being examined by a public inquiry in Canada – one that resumes hearings Monday – it must still be denounced.
Prof. Paris said he initially shrugged off the Chinese government’s behaviour as “largely performative,” like when Beijing complains when Canadian naval vessels transit the international waters of the Taiwan Strait, a passage over which China claims sovereignty and jurisdiction. It makes no difference to him because, he said, the university “completely has my back.”
“It represents an intrusion into the private affairs of private citizens, and not everyone enjoys the job security that I do as a tenured professor,” he said. The coercion could work against “organizations that are more susceptible to these intimidation tactics.”
Taiwan China University Embassy Canada China Beijing Taiwan Roland Paris University Of Ottawa Taiwan Strait
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