Canada 20th PM Jean Chretien & 15th Pierre Trudeau
Canada 20th PM Jean Chretien and 15th PM Pierre Trudeau
Frank (Hongde) Li, March 25, 2025 in Canada
Contents
Jean Chretien, the 20th Prime Minister of Canada .
The process that Jean Chretien helps Huawei's Meng Wanzhou rescued
My letter to Jean Chretien regarding the Meng Wanzhou incident
Pierre Trudeau and the establishment of Canada's diplomatic relation with China
The political philosophy of Justin Trudeau is similar as that of his father
I searched some commemorations about Pierre Trudeau
The articles the criticized Jean Chrétien were a lot, here was a example.
Jean Chretien, the 20th Prime Minister of Canada
No one mentions that among the democracies, only three French politicians, who adhered to an independent foreign policy by rejecting the foreign coercion; the first was French Charles de Gaulle; the second was Canada's 15th PM Pierre Trudeau and the third is 20th PM Jean Chretien, who wisely rejected to join the Iraq War.
Wikipedia, Jean Chrétien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien
91 years old in strong health, 20th PM Jean Chretien is known as Sinophile and Admirer of PR China. For great many years, he has been speaking for China despite the pressure of public opinion. He is a rare rational politician and has absolute appeal in Canada. It was his unremitting efforts that saved Meng Wanzhou of China.
Jean Chretien's admiration for China should be originated from Canada's 15th PM Dr. Pierre Trudeau, whose Harvard graduate thesis was on religion and communism, and he well understood that only communism is the life as human beings should be lived, so that that he was friendly to socialist Cuba and as a fan of China.
Significantly; Dr. Pierre Trudeau once personally traveled around world on a motorcycle; in 1962 he once traveled around China for a month and found that all Western reports on China were fake and deceptive. Jean Chretien used to be the right-hand man for PM Dr. Pierre Trudeau; and on many key positions to solve thorny issues.
Please see my 2015 article Pierre Trudeau and the establishment of Canada's diplomatic relation with China.
Note: In 2016, in view of the fact that populist democratic politicians were kidnapped by values and human rights and blew up the union culture, which led to the collapse of RIM, the originator of smartphone, and the loss of 20,000 jobs in a city that has only population of 100,000, I wrote Gov-authorize non-partisan Super Leadership to assist social governance, which was avoiding touching political body, not affecting the interests of politicians, not causing social unrest, and solving the problem of ineffective governance of democracy; and sent it to the Administrative Assistant of Jean Chretien, Denise Labelle to establish contact. Since then, we often have emails and phone calls.
The process that Jean Chretien helps Meng Wanzhou of China rescued
Back to Top Since Dec 1, 2018, Canadian police arrested Huawei Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, at the request of the US government for mutual legal assistance. I have been following the development of the incident.
It was 20th PM Jean Chretien, who peacefully resolved the hostage crisis between Canada and China after years of unremitting efforts.
On June 7, 2019, I found that Bruce, the former administrative assistant of Jean Chretien, announced that if the Canadian government requested it, Jean Chretien would be willing to go to China and ask the Gov-China to release the two detained Canadian spies. I was worried that the action would fail because if Canada did not release Meng Wanzhou, the Gov-China would never release Canadian spies. If that happened, Jean Chretien would lose his reputation for friendship between Canada and China, and then China would lose old friends from Canada, causing long-term losses. I immediately sent an email to his current administrative assistant Denise Labelle, see below section.
Subsequently, Jean Chretien began to mobilize many former Canadian politicians to carry out a round of public opinion bombardments, demanding the release of Meng Wanzhou, and later proposed a prisoner exchange.
On Sept 4, 2019, Canadian PM announced the appointment of Dominic Barton, former global CEO of McKinsey, as ambassador to China. While working at McKinsey, Dominic Barton lived in Shanghai, China for five years, advising many leading financial institutions on a wide range of issues such as strategy, globalization and corporate governance. In addition, he has also been widely involved in non-profit and charitable activities in China. In 2009, he was awarded the "Magnolia Honor Award" by the Shanghai Municipal Government in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the society.
After Meng Wanzhou was released, Dominic Barton announced his resignation as ambassador to China on Dec 6, 2021, which took effect on the 31st of that month. Apparently, Dominic Barton accepted the position of ambassador to China only for resolving the hostage crisis.
On June 7, 2021, the article For the two Michaels, the road out of China may go through Washington reported that Barton spent most of April in secret talks with US officials in Washington. It can be seen that it was Barton's persistent and repeated efforts that finally convinced US officials.
The following are some of the key reports I collected from too many reports regards this issue, which can be perceived as the main process of the incident of Meng Wanzhou from being detained to return to China.
Dec 01, 2018, Huawei C.F.O. Meng Wanzhou Is Arrested in Canada for Extradition to the U.S.
Jun 06, 2019, Mulroney urges government to send Chrétien to China to win release of detainees
Jun 07, 2019, Chrétien willing to visit China to talk trade and negotiate for the release of detainees: spokesperson
The spokesperson Mr. Bruce Hartley once served as Executive Assistant to PM Jean Chrétien for 16 years.
Jun 10, 2019, I email Chrétien that rescuing convicted people will fail and lose the trust in both China and Canada.
Jun 13, 2019, Chrétien proposes cancelling Meng's extradition case to unfreeze relations with China
Jan 16, 2020, Chrétien's former chief of staff calls for 'prisoner exchange' with China to free Canadians
Jun 24, 2020, Former parliamentarians, diplomats pen letter calling on Canada to release Meng
Sep 04, 2019, Prime Minister announces appointment of Dominic Barton as Ambassador to China
Jun 07, 2021, For the two Michaels, the road out of China may go through Washington reports that Dominic Barton, who spent most of the month of April in Washington holding repeatedly secret talks with American officials.
Sep 25, 2021, Huawei's Meng Wanzhou flies back to China after deal with US Published
Dec 06, 2021, Canada’s Ambassador to China Steps Down After Huawei Crisis Ends
My letter to Jean Chretien regarding the Meng Wanzhou incident
Sent: June 10, 2019 3:46
To: Labelle, Denise denise.labelle@dentons.com
Subject: A greeting from Frank Waterloo
Administrative Assistant Adjointe du très honorable Jean Chrétien
Dentons, Ottawa
D +1 613 783 9696
Good morning Denise Labelle:
This is Frank who once bothers you again and again.
Yesterday, I found two articles that made me can't fall asleep.
First one was Jun 07, 2019 article Chrétien willing to visit China to talk trade and negotiate for the release of detainees: spokesperson: the former prime minister's spokesman Bruce Hartley tells CBC News: "If the Prime Minister asks Mr. Chrétien, he would be prepared to go to China to serve Canada at this difficult time to help our farmers and bring our two Canadians home." Due to that Canada has been without an ambassador in China since John McCallum was fired in January after he made public comments concerning the ongoing court case against Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou.
Then, I eagerly Googled and found Jun 06, 2019 article Mulroney urges government to send Chrétien to China to win release of detainees: Canada should use former prime ministers as the U.S. uses its former presidents, Mulroney says.
I write to you is for the concern that Mr. Bruce Hartley has not made confirm with China yet according to that the two articles were only one day time different.
I notice that there were articles in talking about same thing for a while, but I searched and happily found that the honorable Jean Chrétien did not touch this issue that is too thorny to reach an expected result. If the trial failed, the honorable Jean Chrétien would be negative affected in reputation in both sides.
I guessed that if honorable Jean Chrétien requesting China in the issues of pork and canola would most possibly success, because of that is China in urgently needed also, but not the detained people, which is to shame China as not a country ruled by law in arbitrary detainees as some Canadians blamed. We must be clear that China has already pronounced a verdict on them.
My suggestion is to stop any further comments before getting confirm from China, to avoid affecting the reputation of the honorable Jean Chrétien.
The honorable Jean Chrétien needs consultants from China in academic level, who are sober in well understanding China in international affair and have ability to reach and convince the top leaders of China, I have considered some good candidates. In many cases, the Gov-officials and diplomats cannot handle diplomacy well.
The urgent issue for current Canada is the exports of LNG and agro-products, the improvement of healthcare and the improvement of the extreme low productivity.
If the honorable Jean Chrétien needs, I would like to do my best.
We are busy every day by heels hitting the back of our head, but there few outcomes are worth to be mentioned, because of that we put energy in the wrong way.
Best regards
Frank Li, June 10, 2019, 03:36 Morning in Waterloo
Pierre Trudeau and the establishment of Canada's diplomatic relation with China
--- Review the lessons of history to avoid detours.
Frank Oct. 17, 2015
http://www.kwcg.ca/bbs/home.php?mod=space&uid=61910&do=blog&id=3728
Dr. Pierre Trudeau once said that: Deng has principle, he knew where the objectives were; he was following and putting practice of those principles. He was pragmatic, as he said you can use different routes to come to same aim, the ends are always same: the strength of China, the unity of China, and the stability of China.
I would like to indicate that; what Dr. Pierre Trudeau indicated was the most perfect insight into the rational thought and the political philosophy of Deng Xiaoping to be insisted to reach goals without unrests; and which is also the political principle in the social governance of China by roundabout ways to insist on the determined.
Such as set a test zone at the first and then promote the successful experience. This is why China has been able to maintain social stability no riots and to achieve rapid economic development, while many former socialist countries have experienced bloody conflicts during social transition and continued to experience riots.
I am sure that, if the politicians on power of the countries of the world have the same quality as that of PM Dr. Pierre Trudeau, the epidemic Covid-19 has contained already as same as that of China did; and also there will be neither an economic crisis; nor the Social unrests, nor the proliferation of refugees and terrorism.
--- Frank Li, Mar 8, 2021 in Waterloo, On. Ca.
The value of the existence of the government is to create a livable environment by the absolute power of the State Apparatus.
The true politicians are those who can overcome all kinds of difficulties by every effort to achieve the value of the government.
Dr. Pierre Trudeau wasone of few true politicians among the politicians who are in the instinct of street boy or street girl, or criminal.
--- Frank Li, Feb. 6, 2019 in Waterloo, On. Ca.
This is an excerpt translation from some articles in mandarin searched from Internet.
Contents
1..Pierre Trudeau who laid sound foundation for Canada
2..Pierre Trudeau learnt China with three times personal tour
3..Pierre Trudeau who replaced diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China
4..The political philosophy of Justin Trudeau is similar as that of his father
1.. Pierre Trudeau who laid sound foundation for Canada
It was that Dr. Pierre Trudeauthe 15th Prime Minister of Canada, the father of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has forged a good friendship in diplomatic level with China in decades ago.
Dr. Pierre Trudeau who was with wide range of studies - economics, law, philosophy and theology.
He was the only leader who has systematically studied the issue of social governance by his Harvard master's thesis in communism and religions.
Study communism, firstly needs to study capitalism and the study on religions would help to understand their side role of training innocents to kill innocents in badly affecting social governance.
It was in decades ago, he pointed out that the people in the Pentagon were a group of ‘boring villain’; now, the world has been ruined by them and some politician made themselves criminals due to mindlessly follow the boring villain.
British Iraq War Inquiry has revealed that it was those boring villains and their reckless followers to have opened the door to terrorism.
Besides, the systematic study of theory for social governance, he also paid great attention on social practice; his ideas of social governing were from seeing personally.
In 1948, after finished doctoral study in London, in 29-year-old, he spent 18 weeks travelling around the world on a motorcycle to learn the world personally. Many of his later political practice came from his personal experience on the reality of the world.
Dr. Pierre Trudeau had outstanding intelligence and outstanding ability with excellent political skills. Under his tenure, in Canada, the social development index and quality of life has been among the highest in the world.
He conducted Canada to lay a series of National Foundations including legislation in equal official language status of English and French, established Multiculturalism as Canada's national policy, and promoted Canada in independent Constitution from the control of Britain.
Photo, Queen Elizabeth II signing the Canada Act in Ottawa, Can., as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (seated left) looks on, April 17, 1982.
That mutual compromise is the usual practice of the politicians and to be venerated as political skill. However,Dr. Pierre Trudeau did not make compromise on the principles, due to that any political compromises are exchanged by national interest.
Although, he is a French Quebec, but, he firmly opposed to Quebec independence, during his tenure, on the one hand, by a tough approach to solve 1970 October Crisis, on the other hand, he also convinced the English speaking provinces to give French language and French Canadian more special status, thereby maintained the unity of Canada.
Isolation and sanctions against other countries was the established practice of the United States, but Pierre Trudeau was not as other prime minister to follow such baton and insisted independent international practice to safeguard the interests of Canada and to maintain equality and justice for any countries.
Since 1949, Canada has been trying to establish diplomatic relations with China, but, the efforts have always opposed and obstructed by the United States. In 1969, despite objection wink of the United States, Dr. Pierre Trudeau promoted the completion of the diplomatic relations with China. And in October 1973, he visited China in the first time of Canadian Prime Minister.
Due to have recognized that the people in the Pentagon are a group of "boring villain," he made Canada maintained a certain distance with the United States. He asked the foreign investment review agency to block out some of foreign investment, and to promote trade relations with Europe. Under his efforts, in the Western countries, Canada was the first to establish diplomatic relations with China.
Due to Dr. Pierre Trudeau adhering on independent foreign policy, to have refused to take Canada as a cat's-paw, the relationship with US President Richard Nixon is not good. However, in Nixon’s memoirs – Leaders, gave him a high evaluation in equally importance as that of Zhou Enlai of China, and de Gaulle of France.
The deeds of Dr. Pierre Trudeau lesson us that, the priority of the government is to develop national economy and improve the lives of the nationals under independent foreign policies.
As a politician who occupies an important position that determines nationals' livelihood, it is not rational that is more in focusing on the ideological arguments, less on the development of the national economy.
2.. Pierre Trudeau learnt China with three times personal tour
When Pierre Trudeau travelling around the world on a motorcycle, at the time that new China will be born, he just travelled in China, but due to the civil war, he had to leave China unwillingly with the determination of coming back again.
After China and Canada made first wheat trade in 1961, he finally managed the formalities to enter China through a Canadian agency in Hong Kong. In 1962, He made a month tour in China, and foot printed all over to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangzhou and other places. He felt that what he saw and heard about the new China, there is a big difference with the description of the West.
There was archive ‘Two innocents in Red China’ on CBC Digital Archives, to have introduced Mr. Pierre Trudeau’s second visit to China
“Pierre Trudeau first visited China in 1949 as part of a year-long world tour through Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and China. Nationalist and Communist forces were in battling at the time of his visit, and in his memoirs he described Shanghai as: ‘a bizarre flea market in which everyone, from the poorest to the richest, was trying to peddle his or her possessions for money to flee south or abroad.’ "
“In 1960, China was virtually a closed society. Foreign visitors were rare, but somehow, five French-Canadians were invited to tour the country for 32 days. Among the group were a journalist, Jacques Hébert, and a labour lawyer, Pierre Trudeau. The pair would write a 1961 book, Deux innocents en Chine rouge, about their experiences there.”
Under the archive of Pierre Trudeau goes to China, introduced that Pierre Trudeau third time visited China as prime minister.
Chairman Mao met Pierre Trudeau in 1973
Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai toasts Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau during a banquet held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 11, 1973. (Peter Bregg/Canadian Press)
Pierre Trudeau has been to China twice before, but the third time it's as prime minister. Canada and China have recently established diplomatic ties, and Trudeau is hoping to secure access to the Chinese market for Canadian business. On a 1973 tour that includes such highlights as the Great Wall and martial-arts displays, Trudeau gets a last-minute invitation: a visit with Chairman Mao. This CBC-TV clip includes a segment about the meeting from Chinese TV.
From above historical events, we can learn that, the later policies of Dr. Pierre Trudeau on the relationship with China was depended on his personal explorations rather than as that of others depends on the hearsays.
I happily found a video that Pierre Trudeau rencontre Mao Zedong.
As excellent politician, he could see the nature of the problems. He was the only politician that recognized the essence of China’s economic success.
In June 1994, the 12th Annual Meeting of the Inter Action Council held in Dresden, Germany; in the time there, the economic miracle of China and former president Deng Xiaoping was popular topic inside and outside of the meeting. China’s Central Television - CCTV conducted an exclusive interview and made a documentary, in which, Dr. Pierre Trudeau made a comment about the rational practice of Deng Xiaoping:
June 1994, Dr. Pierre Trudeau in 12th Annual Meeting of the Inter Action Council, Germany
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWliBycLiX4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWliBycLiX4&t=133s&ab_channel=HongdeLi
--- The screenshots of CCTV document
Dr. Pierre Trudeau said that: Deng has principle, he knew where the objectives were; he was following and putting practice of those principles. He was pragmatic, as he said you can use different routes to come to same aim, the ends are always same: the strength of China, the unity of China, and the stability of China.
This was the most nature-touching comments about Deng Xiaoping and the success of China, besides the comment “Don’t argue; try it. If it works, let it spread,” that dug out by Ezra F. Vogel, the Professor at Harvard University, who cost about 10 years, visited many key figures and historical sites published Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China in 2011.
There report that in mid-October 1973, Deng Xiaoping accompanied the visiting Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his entourage to visit Zhengzhou，Guilin and Lijiang River. On the 17th, Trudeau and his entourage took an airplane returned to Canada from Guilin via Guangzhou.
People may misunderstand that as one party dictatorship, in China, to make some social reform may be much easier, and indeed it was totally wrong.
Aug. 9, 2016, I wrote article Authorize non-partisan Super Leadership to assist social governance, which was attachment in first email to Dentons in Aug. 10th, 2016; in which, I discussed about main resistances in social governance:
For social governance, there are three main resistances.
First one is that has to deal with people who are capable in independent thinking and tend to act according to own interested and preferred accord, which will negatively affect social governance.
Second one is that social governance would involve in some social reform with the redistribution of social interest, and it would encounter the fierce resistance of interest group, and even ordinary people would also resist the reform due to the fear for potential risks in uncertain social changes.
Third one is the impact of social ideologies which is that people accustomed outdated ideology in dominating thinking and behaving. In The end of laissez-faire 1926, Keynes indicates that: “These many elements have contributed to the current intellectual bias, the mental make-up, the orthodoxy of the day. The compelling force of many of the original reasons has disappeared but, as usual, the vitality of the conclusions outlasts them.”
Such behaviors were caused by the inborn nature of human beings, in regardless the race, regardless the nationality and regardless the political model - one party dictatorship or multiparty democracy.
The process of China’s economic reform was the process of making efforts to reduce and overcome such social resistance.
By using different routes to come to same aim was for avoiding resistance, it was by roundabout ways to circumvent obstacles.
In Canada, it will be the same when making social advancement.
3.. Pierre Trudeau replaced diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China
In Oct 13, 1970, on the effort of Dr. Pierre Trudeau, Canada severed the ties with Taiwan, and established diplomatic relations with China, which was earlier than that of the United States.
In 1973 he visited the People's Republic of China, which was the first visit of the Canadian Prime Minister historically. In 1976, Trudeau prohibited Taiwan to participate in the Olympic Games in Montreal, even though the team has arrived in Montreal.
During Trudeau's tenure, Canada maintained a certain distance with the United States. He asked the foreign investment review body to shield off some foreign investment, and tried to promote trade relations with China and Europe.
Pierre Trudeau was right, in both of now and future, Canada must maintain a certain distance with the United States. For example, on the Ukrainian crisis, the United States launched economic sanctions on Russia, Canada suffered huge losses, but, the U.S. itself has continued to do business with Russia.
It is not that the country U.S. is no good, but, there few U.S. politicians are rational.
The practice of Pierre Trudeau proved that those people who have become friends of China after visited China.
Those who strongly criticize China are mostly according to the hearsay.
The political philosophy of Justin Trudeau is similar as that of his father
From the reports, the political philosophy of Justin Trudeau is similar as that of his father – rational with less Dogmatism.
I once wrote an article Justin Trudeau a rational leader of Canadian Liberal Party. I excerpt some as follow.
Nov. 8, 2013, the article At Toronto fundraiser, Justin Trudeau seemingly admires China’s ‘basic dictatorship’ reported that:
When an audience member asked Mr. Trudeau which nation’s “administration he most admired."
Mr. Trudeau responded: “There is a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say we need to go green, we need to start, you know, investing in solar. There is a flexibility that I know Stephen Harper must dream about: having a dictatorship where you can do whatever you wanted, that I find quite interesting.”
The comments of Mr. Trudeau suffered extensive fierce criticism.
"Mr. Trudeau took to Twitter on Friday to explain his comments, saying that his point about China was that Canada “is up against big countries (China, for one) that can address some major issues quickly.”
"Canada is the best country in the world. I would never trade our freedoms. But countries we compete with play by different rules. That’s why we need to work together to address big issues and that’s why I’m focused on the (real priorities) of Canadians.”
November 7, 2013, the other report on the same event that Justin Trudeau hosts 'ladies night' fundraiser despite 'firestorm' of controversy over ‘patronizing’ clearly provided the true intention of Mr. Trudeau's comments on China: "In answer to a litany of questions, Mr. Trudeau said the environment was the biggest issue that would impact today’s children; that he most admired the political system in Canada’s northern territories, which operate without political parties; implored for the engagement of young people in politics."
From the reports, we can learn the philosophy of Trudeau on social governance. He is not dogmatically advocating in political forms, but the real governance effect.
I searched some commemorations about Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Elliott Trudeau – Canada's Last Great Prime Minister (TV Interview 1994) HD
Former Prime Minister Trudeau discusses both international politics along with his memoirs that were originally published in 1993 with Charlie Rose on March 9, 1994. He was first elected as PM in 1968 until 1979 followed by 1980 until 1984 the same year he publicly announced his retirement. Pierre was a citizen of the world, an intellectual, a nation builder, a statesman & a visionary. He passed away in Montreal on September 28, 2000. He was 80 years old.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau | Biography & Facts | Britannica.com
https://www.cbc.ca/archives/topic/pierre-elliott-trudeau-philosopher-and-prime-minister
The life of Justin Trudeau in pictures - The Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/the-life-of-justin-trudeau-in-pictures/article4568926/
The articles that criticized Jean Chrétien were a lot, here was an example
What Jean Chrétien has done to Canada on the Meng Wanzhou case
https://macleans.ca/politics/what-jean-chretien-has-done-to-canada-on-the-meng-wanzhou-case/
Terry Glavin: Why does Beijing think the Trudeau government can simply shuck off the U.S. and free the Huawei exec? Because a certain former PM keeps saying so.
TERRY GLAVIN JUNE 19, 2019
Meng was released on bail in early January 2019 and has remained under watch ever since in one of her Vancouver homes. (Photography by Jimmy Jeong)
Ever since Beijing erupted in a rage following last December’s detention of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. Justice Department warrant in Vancouver, Justin Trudeau’s government has been strangely incoherent in its attempts to explain away the most spectacular rupture in diplomatic relations between Canada and China since the first exchange of ambassadors back in 1970.
Well, now we know why.
There was a lot going on in the background that Chrystia Freeland could not candidly reveal last week when she dismissed Liberal Party patriarch Jean Chrétien’s formula for capitulating to China. The formula is simple. 1. Abdicate from the Canada-U.S. extradition treaty and let Meng walk free. 2. Ask Beijing to be nice to us. 3. See what happens.
Freeland quite sensibly noted that this would be a “dangerous precedent.” No kidding.
It’s quite true that Chrétien knows his way around the parasitical Communist Party elites that have lately decided to scuttle any of the institutions of the global order that would resist Beijing’s efforts to reshape the world in its own image and likeness. Chrétien’s 15 years of service to Chinese and Canadian corporations as a lobbyist, adviser, deal-maker, consultant and errand runner began officially only days after he resigned as Prime Minister after a decade in office in 2003.
RELATED: Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou: The world’s most wanted woman
But what Freeland could not say out loud was that sending Chrétien and his cronies from the Canada-China Business Council as envoys to Beijing would be to surrender Canada’s foreign policy to the same Liberal Party old guard that cleared the way for Beijing to put the boots to Canada in the first place. Neither could she disclose that the Trudeau government has been subjected to sustained backroom browbeating to take the course Chrétien is counselling ever since things blew up last December.
It was only little more than a week ago that the former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in a move heavily freighted by message control and the floating of propositions, came straight out with it, publicly. It would run like this: Ottawa sends Chrétien to Beijing, accompanied by his son-in-law André Desmarais, the Power Corporation heir and honorary chairman of the Canada-China Business Council. The pair leads a delegation to propose a surrender on the terms Chrétien has been lobbying Ottawa to take ever since last December—release Meng Wanzhou. Beijing agrees and offers to lift its boot from Canada’s neck— an offer Trudeau would be damned if he refused.
This has all been far too awkward for the Trudeau government to come clean about. So instead, we’re expected to believe the cover story, the one about how the problem with Beijing’s various shouting ministers and emissaries is that they just don’t understand how Canada’s legal system works. The one about how they simply can’t get their heads around the idea that Trudeau can’t just call up a judge and clear the way for an otherwise untouchable member of the Red Royalty to board an airplane at Vancouver International Airport and fly away home to Shenzhen.
But whatever would have made them think such a thing was possible in the first place?
RELATED: Can Trump really intervene in the Meng Wanzhou case?
It’s because of what Beijing has been hearing loudly, clearly and consistently since last December, because that’s what Chrétien, former deputy prime minister John Manley, the dependably pro-Beijing think-tanker Wenran Jiang and quite a few others from that crowd have been saying, loudly, clearly and consistently, from the beginning. It’s this: All Trudeau has to do is say the word and for the first time in its 48 years of existence, the extradition treaty between Canada and the United States can simply be ignored, just like that.
And Canada would be welcomed into China’s camp, and turned against the United States at last, just as Beijing has been hoping for all along.
“I don’t think they know or care what kind of damage they’re doing to this country,” is the way a senior Team Trudeau insider put it to me the other day. “With what they’ve done, there’s no reason for China to take our protestations seriously.”
Chrétien has not responded to Maclean’s’ request for a response.
It’s no wonder that Xi Jinping and his ministers are furious that Trudeau hasn’t played along. It’s no wonder that Chrystia Freeland can’t get Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to return her calls.
It’s not just China that’s putting the onus on Canada to pick up the pieces and re-assemble Canada’s obsequious, kowtowing relationship with Beijing. “We hope that Canada will take seriously our severe concerns and immediately release Ms. Meng Wanzhou and actively take substantial measures to push China-Canada relations back on track as soon as possible.” That could have been Jean Chretien talking, or John Manley. It was Geng Shuang, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, just last week.
RELATED: Trump’s big gift to Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou
It didn’t help matters when U.S. president Donald Trump intimated that he could somehow monkey with the Justice Department charges against Meng if it suited the American side in trade talks with China. The daughter of Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, Meng is wanted on a U.S. Justice Department warrant from last August, containing 13 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, all related to an investigation going back eight years into Huawei’s alleged sanctions-evading racket in Iran.
Trump’s stupid remark will no doubt be the thing Trudeau will be dancing around in his meetings in Washington this week, and he’ll have to be ginger about it. Trudeau is hoping to enlist Trump’s help with Xi at the upcoming G20 summit in Japan.
But more importantly, it hasn’t helped that by long and lucrative acquaintance, Beijing has come to see the Liberal Party of Canada as the political wing of the Canada-China Business Council. It’s why Beijing has been expecting that sooner or later, a Liberal government in Ottawa will do as Chretien and the Liberal old guard are advising and resume its customary, slavish behaviour.
It should have come as no surprise that it was the Conservative Mulroney who was tasked with the job of going public with the plan for the Chrétien-Desmarais delegation. Mulroney is perhaps the most illustrious protégé of the late Power Corporation elder Paul Desmarais Sr., the CCBC’s founding chairman.
John Manley was head of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives in 2016 when that blue-ribbon body co-produced a report with the CCBC sternly warning Canada to acquiesce to Beijing’s wishes for a free trade deal, which would have been the first for a G7 country. The CCBC is strewn with Liberal Party grandees, and Peter Harder, the CCBC’s former president, now leads the government side in the Senate, after having been plucked from the CCBC to head Justin Trudeau’s transition team following the 2015 election.
Chrétien and Trudeau at a reception celebrating 25 years since Chrétien’s first term as PM (Fred Chartrand/CP)
It’s no wonder that Beijing has calculated that by the steady application of gangland-style persuasion— the kidnapping of diplomat-on-leave Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, the embargo on Canadian canola imports, and so on—the Trudeau government will be gifted with the political excuse to accede to whatever surrender terms Chrétien and his friends in Beijing might dictate.
That it would come to this was only a matter of time.
Within a week of Meng’s arrest last December, Chrétien was on the phone to the Prime Minister’s Office haranguing anyone who would listen that Jody Wilson-Raybould, the attorney-general and justice minister at the time, should be instructed to cancel the extradition proceedings against Meng. But since that time, even if a justification for such an unprecedented and brazenly political hijacking of the judiciary on Meng’s behalf could be divined from some clever reading of the Canada-U.S. extradition treaty, Trudeau has paid a brutal price for the pressure his office applied to Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin corruption case on the company’s behalf.
It was Raybould who Manley singled out last December as the stubborn culprit behind Meng’s predicament. “If there’s a politician that’s on the hook on this,” Manley told CBC last December, “it’s the attorney general, Jody Wilson-Raybould.” Raybould did not respond to Maclean’s’ request for comment.
It was Manley, too, who blasted the Trudeau government for not having dodged the whole rule-of-law thing to begin with by employing what he called a bit of “creative incompetence.” The idea there was that Canada should have deliberately allowed Meng to quietly slip back into Canada, or otherwise just pretend we’d lost the extradition warrant in the mailroom.
Meng was detained on the warrant during a layover on a flight to Mexico when she checked into customs at Vancouver International Airport, explaining that she wanted to pop into one of the mansions she owns in town. Of course, someone in Canada tipping off Meng would have pleased Beijing tremendously. It would also have been what you could call an act of obstruction in the years-long U.S. Justice Department investigation into Huawei’s dealings in Iran that resulted in the charges against Meng.
Manley has dismissed the case against Meng as “an attempt to get China to buy more soybeans from the mid-western United States.” Chrétien has explained the warrant along similar lines: the Americans had tricked us into detaining her.
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The final decision in Meng’s extradition case, which is expected to take two years to wind its way through the courts, now falls to David Lametti, who is widely seen as far more compliant than his predecessor in matters of judicial independence. Wilson-Raybould, as is well known, was shuffled out of her post in what became a scandalous upheaval, and she ultimately resigned in despair from Trudeau’s cabinet over the very concept that we’ve all been led to believe Xi Jinping is somehow incapable of grasping: judicial independence.
It’s here, too, that the cover story falls apart. President Xi is not ill-informed on the subject, and he doesn’t need a briefing by Canadian officials about what judicial independence is all about. Xi has been very clear that he knows exactly what an independent judiciary is.
Just this past February, Xi wrote a 5,000-word essay in the Chinese Communist Party’s main theoretical journal, headlined “Strengthening the Party’s Leadership over the Overall Rule of Law,” in which he makes it plain as day that he fully understands judicial independence to be the bedrock of “western constitutionalism.” It’s a defining feature of civilized countries that he insists his state-capitalist regime must never tolerate.
Trudeau has been wishy-washy in his responses to the Team Chrétien ideas. Freeland stands alone in being unequivocal. “When it comes to Ms. Meng, there has been no political interference,” Freeland told reporters last week. “This has been entirely about officials taking decisions according to Canada’s commitments, and that is the right way for extradition requests to proceed.” As for Chrétien’s interventions and the way all that could play out, it’s Trudeau’s call, Freeland added.
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But there is one person who could fix the whole thing in an instant, and it’s not Xi, or Trump, or Trudeau, or Chrétien, or Desmarais, or Freeland. It’s Meng Wanzhou.
Meng claims to be innocent on all counts, and Meng’s boss, which is to say her father, Huawei CEO Ren Zhenfei, says the same, and has gone further about Meng’s prospects: “We will count on the law to address these issues. We believe U.S. laws are open, transparent, fair, and just.” This is obviously disingenuous, but it’s also one of the only unambiguously true things that can be said about this whole mess.
Instead of tying up Canadian and U.S. courts with comical lawsuits claiming her various constitutional rights have been stepped upon, all Meng has to do is call up the Canadian Border Services Agency and tell them to come and collect her from her mansion in Vancouver’s swank Shaughnessy neighbourhood, and take her to the Canada-U.S. border so she can turn herself in.
If Chrétien and Desmarais and the rest are so good at making things happen in the Canada-China relationship, maybe they might think about figuring out how to get Meng Wanzhou to do just that.
MORE ABOUT MENG WANZHOU:
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China’s offensive on Canada, in plain sight
Why Canada isn’t fighting China over canola
Sorry Beijing, the SNC-Lavalin affair is not your ace card in the Meng case