Perspective: Those China/Canadian Trade Talks …

Exploratory Trade Talks

The Chinese and the Canadians have been having exploratory trade talks for months, the last such was December 2017.  There are reports that the Chinese canceled a press conference to publicly report on these talks.  “This is a golden era for bilateral talks with you Canadians, “premier Li is quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads the Canadians delegation to China. The Canadians on their part are hell-bent on widening these talks to include human rights, women’s affairs and subsidies to Chinese industries.

Sitting across a large table flanked by eight technocrats on either side,  both delegations size up each other, yet the talks are cordial.

This Chinese proverb pretty well sums up the mood if not the attitude of the Chinese to these talks. “A melon will drop off its stem when it is ripe”.  Will the melon be fit for consumption when it is ripe?  In our perspective the Canadian delegation needs to clearly state what it wants to get out of these talks without trying to appear to be overly imposing Canadian values like human rights on the Chinese.  This Chinese society is a different society and they have different value systems.  These differences must be recognized and diplomatically slid into these face to face talks.

Chinese

The Chinese are very visible in Canada, especially in the largest province Toronto, Ontario in particular so they are no strangers to each other.  There is even a China Town and the Chinese have invested a lot in Canada.

We await the outcome and wonder how long it takes before more Canadian salmon and other fish stocks will be on Chinese tables. Lumber is also a hot item on the trade package. The Chinese are known to have an insatiable appetite for seafood.  Will this gastronomical delight in particular,  be the breaking point?

Is this when the melon will get ripe and leave the stem?  Let us take a wait and see approach to these talks.

Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is Senior International Correspondent & Photojournalist for Vision Newspaper Canada.