Taiwan is not a country – the United Nations is clear about that, and so is Canadian protocol, and even the Taiwanese constitution agrees. So why are officials in Canada getting it wrong? Aidan Jonah reports.
CARELESS USERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA sometimes make the mistake of referring to Taiwan as a country, which is no surprise – but when official Canadian government appointees do the same thing, twice over, that’s a concern for peace-loving citizens of both countries.
Canada claims to respect its own One-China Policy, the basis for having diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). But events of the last year, coupled with previous Canadian government shenanigans, throw this claim into serious doubt.
BEEN HERE BEFORE
Last fall, The Canada Files broke the story that a Department of Canadian Heritage official, Amy Awad, called Taiwan a country in a pre-testimony interview for Canada’s foreign interference inquiry. Now, a review of Canadian government-appointed inquiry commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue’s final report reveals that she too has called Taiwan a country (Volume 5, Page 42):
“I learned of interesting models in several countries to build civic resilience, especially against misinformation and disinformation. These countries include Finland, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.”
When The Canada Files reached out to Awad’s employer, their response contained no rejection of the fact that Awad called Taiwan a “country”, but emphasized Canada’s “One-China Policy”.
It is likely that Hogue simply saw Awad’s comments calling Taiwan a country and repeated them herself.
But the same commissioner also said in the foreign interference inquiry final report (Volume 1, Page 40):
“At the time of writing this report, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions.”
Hogue calling Taiwan a country indicates her firm pro-Western bias and raises questions of her ability to resist the allure of wild claims made by Canada’s intelligence agency, CSIS, the main driver of Canada’s Chinagate paranoia.
LONG HISTORY
But the Canadian shenanigans around China’s Taiwan province didn’t start there.
They arguably started in 2017, when the neo-Conservative Canadian think-tank, MacDonald-Laurier Institute (MLI), began receiving event sponsorships and then, in 2018, funding from Taiwan province.
Then, the MLI conveniently began to ramp up its anti-China content and speak about the importance of supporting Taiwan province. The MLI is also known for taking US State Department and Latvian Defence Ministry money.
In 2018, subtle Canadian shenanigans around Taiwan province began. For The Canada Files, this reporter explained that:
“In 2018, when Taiwan province sought inclusion in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, Canada supported this bid and indicated its disappointment about the WHA rejection. In 2020, Canada again supported the observer status bid along with the US.”
BLIND EYES TO PROVOCATION
In 2022, after former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s led a provocative visit to Taiwan province to meet the province’s administration, Canadian MP Judy Sgro, a member of the US-financed anti-China Interparliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), led a Canadian parliamentary delegation to do the same thing. Canada’s government didn’t condemn this provocative move.
Then, Canada escalated its subtle support for Taiwan “independence” in 2023 by calling for the province to be allowed to have “meaningful participation in the forums and technical committees of the World Health Organization [WHO].”
PROBLEMATIC ESCALATION
This is a problematic escalation, as explained in the earlier article:
“The problem with this 2023 bid, is that the world-consensus followed by the WHO/WHA majority, is the one-China principle. That there is only one China in this world, and that the PRC represents it. What this means for the WHO/WHA is that if they have the PRC on the WHO/WHA, they can’t have Taiwan province engage with it. Participation in WHO committees and WHA membership requires one to be a full member of the WHO, which is only possible for an independent nation, which Taiwan province is not.”
The escalation of Canada’s subtle support for Taiwan ‘independence’ continued in 2024, as Canada’s government didn’t oppose a trip by ex-Canadian government officials (including a former CSIS Director) to Taiwan province, “to strengthen informal ties”.
Meanwhile, Canadian government appointees have suddenly discovered a liking for referring to Taiwan as a country.
Canada has a truly contradictory idea of “respecting” their own “One-China policy”:
“Even if Canadian policy doesn’t back China regaining control of Taiwan province, Canadian policy around the ‘One-China Principle’ is that they only recognize the PRC as a country, not Taiwan province. So, by advocating for any involvement in the WHO committees by Taiwan province, Canada is rejecting its own ‘One-China policy’, by subtly seeking to promote ‘Taiwan independence’.”
When Canada’s government has nothing to say about their appointees calling Taiwan a country, this also serves to subtly support “Taiwan independence”.
Yet, Canadian economic ties with the PRC provide Canada with an alternative to economic domination by the USA, an opportunity especially relevant as US President Donald Trump muses about forcibly annexing Canada. Canadians would be well advised to demand Canada’s government respect the bare minimum requirement for diplomatic relations with the PRC and even further build trade relations to safeguard the Canadian economy’s future.
Aidan Jonah is the Editor-in-Chief of The Canada Files, an independent media group. Jonah wrote a report for the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held in September 2021.