China: Confident rival hopes to eclipse US Amy Hawkins in Beijing On the shores of Beijing’s central lakes, elderly Beijingers relax under the shade of willow trees. Some swim, some play mahjong, and one old man plays darts: US and Chinese-flagged arrows competing for the bullseye. The adversarial view of US-China relations is typical among people like these who lived through the cold war. Wen Feng, a 60-year-old retiree, described the US as a “troublemaker” – a viewpoint fanned by years of state propaganda casting Uncle Same as a villainous,…
Tag: Canada
U.S. Declines to Renew USMCA Trade Deal, Starting 10-Year Clock to Expiration
The Trump administration on Wednesday declined to renew the trade deal President Trump negotiated with Canada and Mexico in his first term, a pact that he later came to criticize. The decision, though expected, was an important symbolic move for a trade deal the United States is currently trying to renegotiate. The move started a decade-long clock to the deal’s expiration, unless the three countries unanimously decide to renew it. The text of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement required the three countries to jointly meet to review the agreement six years after…
Chinese Dissident Who Fled by Sea to South Korea Lands in Canada
About a month ago, the Chinese dissident Dong Guangping spent 36 hours at sea in an inflatable rubber boat with a sputtering engine, a peeling face and a dying phone before getting detained in South Korea. But on Saturday, Mr. Dong, 68, told The New York Times that he had flown to Toronto, ending a treacherous and decade-long search for freedom. He also recounted details of his voyage across the Yellow Sea from China to South Korea for the first time. Mr. Dong, a critic of China’s ruling Communist Party,…
Lululemon apologises after Japanese drum row at Great Wall yoga event
The activewear brand Lululemon has apologised after a promotional event held on the Great Wall of China appeared to mistakenly feature a Japanese drum, prompting an uproar. The Canadian-headquartered company, known for its upmarket leggings, has been growing rapidly in China and arranged for a yoga festival to take place in late May on a section of the wall near Beijing. More than 2,000 people were invited to take part in the event, which was advertised as promoting Chinese culture and wellness, according to the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times,…
Canada eliminates human rights watchdog that oversees companies operating abroad
Canada is eliminating a watchdog that investigates alleged human rights violations committed by Canadian companies operating abroad, after Mark Carney said the office hadn’t been “effective” since it was set up in 2019. The move comes as Canada faces criticism from Donald Trump’s administration over its “unacceptable” efforts to combat forced labour. The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (Core) was established by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government to investigate human rights abuses including the use of forced labour by industry. At the time, much of the focus was on…
On China, Trump picked the right battle but the wrong strategy
We are in for a long trade war. In the months since “Liberation Day” last year, when Donald Trump let loose a volley of tariffs against imports from everywhere, countries have rushed to build new relationships in the hope of maybe circumventing the US to protect the global trading system. The European Union hurried to sign a trade agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc that had been sitting on ice for years. China and south-east Asian nations deepened their trade agreement. The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, travelled to Beijing…
Canadian officer accused of spying for China acquitted of charges
A retired police officer Canada accused of being an agent for China has been acquitted of national security charges after prosecutors failed to prove he acted illegally. William Majcher, who served in the RCMP’s financial crime unit, was charged in 2023 over allegations he had breached Canada’s Security of Information Act by helping Chinese police coerce a Vancouver-area real estate investor, accused of fraud, to return to China. On Wednesday, Martha Devlin, a British Columbia supreme court justice, found Majcher was not guilty of a charge under Canada’s Security of…
Mark Carney reminds Trump that Canada paid for key border bridge US president says he won’t open
Trump earlier had ranted against bridge and also warned that China would ‘terminate’ hockey in Canada Mark Carney said he had held a “positive” conversation with Donald Trump after the US leader threatened to block a new key bridge between their two countries, reminding the president that Canada paid for the structure – and that the US shares ownership. Late on Monday, Trump posted a lengthy message on social media, falsely claiming that the $4.6bn Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, had “virtually no US content”.…
China overturns death sentence of Canadian in sign of diplomatic thaw
China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as prime minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer Zhang Dongshuo, reached in Beijing on Saturday, confirmed the decision was announced on Friday by China’s highest court. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived after the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians…
Trump Says His Unpredictable Style Gives Him Leverage. But It Has a Cost.
President Trump, who considers himself a master deal maker, has never made any secret of his belief that the secret to winning at negotiation is to keep the other side off balance. But a year into his second term, his act is starting to wear on both allies and adversaries, some of whom are starting to view him as so mercurial and unreliable that they appear willing to consider waiting him out or turning away from him rather than enduring the abrupt starts, stops and humiliations that can accompany engaging…