Articles by Nathan VanderKlippe

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. […]

Jan 24 2019 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — For weeks, China has condemned Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as part of a politically-motivated plot to undermine a corporate flag-bearer for Chinese innovation and overseas success. Now, people in China have found support for that position in an unexpected place: Canada’s own ambassador to China, John McCallum, who in a conversation with […]

Dec 20 2018 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Sarah McIver is being held in China for working illegally, Beijing said Thursday as the detention of yet another Canadian struck a note of fear around the world. Ms. McIver, an Albertan teaching English in China, is under “administrative punishment,” the foreign ministry said. She is the third Canadian being held after the arrest in […]

Oct 30 2018 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Canadian academics have collaborated on dozens of projects with Chinese military researchers – some of whom appear to have obscured their defence ties – raising concerns that Canada is inadvertently helping China modernize its armed forces. The academic exchanges, jointly advancing technologies such as secure communications, satellite-image processing and drones, include the enrollment of Chinese […]

Mar 23 2018 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — As China plots its response to a White House determined to extract blood on trade, Beijing’s leadership knows it cannot match U.S. military or economic might. But Chinese decision makers also know they now oversee the the world’s dominant marketplace. China’s retail sales are the highest on earth, worth US$7.5-trillion last year, 14-per-cent larger than […]

Dec 6 2017 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — Justin Trudeau’s rocky trip to China has spilled onto the pages of the country’s nationalist state press, which lashed out at Canadian media for their “superiority and narcissism,” and warned that China is in no rush to step closer to Canada. As the Canadian prime minister left Beijing Tuesday night without an expected agreement to […]

Nov 27 2017 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — To gauge Canadian public opinion on free trade with China, Ottawa dispatched federal officials across the country on a listening tour. They landed in 10 provinces and one territory, consulting more than 600 people and businesses. What they heard was less than a ringing endorsement of a deal the Liberal government appears set to pursue, […]