Jul 31 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Less than two weeks after Chinese authorities formally charged two Canadians with espionage, Ambassador Dominic Barton travelled nearly 700 kilometres from Beijing, hoping to end a half year of being barred from seeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. The unusual Canada Day trip brought Mr. Barton to Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province. Mr. Spavor […]
Jul 6 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — The Chinese government has once again threatened to punish Canada, in a new round of verbal attacks from a foreign ministry with a lengthening list of targets among western countries critical of Beijing’s policies. China on Monday lashed out at measures taken by Canada last week in response to a new national security law imposed […]
May 26 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — The Chinese government has issued a new warning to Canada about further “damage” to relations between the two countries – days before a British Columbia judge releases a decision on an extradition hearing for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Canada must “release Ms. Meng and ensure her safe return to China at an early date to […]
May 12 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Canadian researchers are joining the effort to develop a Chinese vaccine against the deadly coronavirus, with plans to begin human trials in Canada of a potential defence against COVID-19 that employs genetic technology from the National Research Council. The trials will bring to Canadian soil Ad5-nCoV, a vaccine candidate under joint development by a Chinese […]
May 11 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Chinese authorities have sentenced to prison a couple who immigrated to Canada nearly two decades ago, accusing them of defecting with military secrets. It is the latest case to entangle Canada in a geopolitical battle between the United States and China. Peter Wang and Ruqin Zhao are Chinese-born engineers who worked in the Toronto area, […]
Apr 11 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — For seven years, Felix Li served on the distant front lines of Canadian public health, in China. As a doctor posted to Beijing, he fostered ties with health authorities that let him peer beneath the official rhetoric of a country that has been the source of multiple viral epidemics in recent decades. When Dr. Li […]
Apr 6 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is quietly flying millions of masks to Canada, as health authorities and hospitals struggle to acquire adequate safety equipment for medical workers dealing with the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The company, which has provoked controversy with gifts to other countries, has already delivered to Canada more than a million masks, 30,000 goggles […]
Feb 27 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Chinese authorities have allowed two detained Canadians to speak with lawyers, a procedural step that provides them another point of contact outside their detention cells. For 12 months, Chinese authorities denied Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor access to legal representation, after they were both detained in China following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou […]
Dec 20 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “doomed to fail,” if he hopes to secure the release of two arrested Canadians before Washington and Beijing complete a trade deal, China warned Friday. Linking a deal to ease escalating tariffs between the world’s two largest economies with other issues is “totally in vain,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang […]
Dec 9 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — The walls are high and painted a dark shade of grey. Towering over them, Chinese characters in bright red command those inside to “listen to the Party’s orders.” Locked inside with hundreds of others is Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians seized by Chinese authorities after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver […]
Oct 14 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — China’s foreign ministry issued an angry response on Monday to a Taiwan visit by former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, with Beijing saying it has made its displeasure known to Ottawa. Mr. Harper became the first former Canadian prime minister to set foot in Taipei last week when he spoke at a conference organized by […]
Aug 21 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Chinese authorities are taking aim at Canada’s foreign minister, singling out Chrystia Freeland by name in an unusually personal rebuke to her comments about Hong Kong. On Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang rebuked the Canadian government, saying it ”has made irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs repeatedly and grossly interfered in China’s internal […]
Jun 29 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Ren Zhengfei doesn’t like Ottawa’s decision to jail his daughter, Meng Wanzhou, but he says it hasn’t stopped his telecom company’s commitment to Canadian research – it’s only slowed it down. In an exclusive interview, he spoke about Canada and China’s political feud, the coming revolution in artificial intelligence and more
Jun 26 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — While Canada’s meat sector has pinned its hopes on a quick end to a suspension of Chinese imports, an industry expert warned that resolving the problem may depend on improving strained ties between the two countries, even as China’s foreign ministry renewed demands for the release of an arrested Huawei executive. The Chinese government on […]
Apr 10 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Two Canadian men detained in China are being held in isolation, barred from going outside or seeing the sun. Wednesday marked four months of detention for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who are being held in a government system that gives Chinese authorities up to six months to conduct interrogations outside the formal legal system. […]