Canadian-Asian Affairs

Huseyincan Celil a Canadian citizen who lives in Burlington with his wife and some of his Children has been extradited from Uzbekistan to China. The Chinese apparently want Mr. Celil in relation to his political activism in support of the Uigyr population. The Chinese also claim Mr. Celil is wanted in connection with the murder of government officials in the year 2000, but his family and supporters claim he was in Turkey under the auspieces of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees at the time.

It is unclear exactly why Celil was in Uzbekistan, but some media outlets are reporting he was trying to get his three children who remain in China out of the country. One wonders if the Chinese motivation for detaining Celil has anything to do with their desire to ensure the extradition of Lai Changxing. They have been quite vocal in their campaign to get him sent from Vancouver, where he is being held under suveillance by Canadian authorities, to China where he will face a corruption trial. Certainly holding Mr. Celil gives the Chinese something more to bargain with.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060627.CELIL27/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/

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I have been listening to and reading reports in the Chinese language media about Canada's official apology to the Chinese-Canadian population. Most of the reports are laudatory and support both the wording and the methodology of the amends. A few have mentioned discontent within a minority of the Chinese community who felt that only offering compensation to surviving head tax payers and their widows was not thorough enough. That said, most have also pointed out that offering direct compensation to others would become a very complex task, and there is an understanding that it will be impossible to fully please all members of the community.

It is good to know that this issue, which has been a long standing bone of contention for some within the Chinese community, can now be largely laid to rest. Hopefully the newly announced funding for various "historical recognition programs" will ensure that the government's prior short-sighted policies aren't forgotten while also promoting tolerant and progressive immigration law.

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The House of Commons has unanimously decided to offer the Dalai Lama honorary Canadian citizenship. It is an act meant to show a certain level of solidarity with his position while not having to forthwrightly declare that Canada supports a free Tibet. Indeed support for a free Tibet may not be the actual case. Rather support for religious freedom and the message of peaceful living that the Dalai Lama represents is likely what garners him much of the support he receives. Prior recipients of honorary citizenship include Nelson Mandela and Raoul Wallenberg.

Apparently the Dalai Lama is scheduled to make another visit to Canada in September. I'm sure the 'Buddah Tour 2006' will play to sold out crowds wherever he decides to speak.

Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1681462.cms

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Three Canadian warships, a selection of aircraft, and their crew members are in Hawaii preparing for this year's rim of the pacific exercise. The biennial exercises include forces from Australia, Japan, Chile, Peru, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. They are meant to test operational ability and co-operation in the Pacific.

In related news, according to numerous media reports, Prime Minister Harper is set to announce a series of defense aquisitions. There likely won't be any surprises on the list: supply ships, transport aircraft, helicopters etc. They'll mostly be things that have been previously mentioned by the Tories or the prior Liberal government.

Link: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=39bc3eb2-4d84-4215-964a-0e45c1768209&k=61042

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Research in Motion announced on June 22nd that they have agreed to enter into their largest international partnership yet by pairing up with Japan's NTT DoCoMo to offer Blackberry service in Japan. Research in Motion has announced new distribution deals in China, Japan, and Taiwan over the past few months. The article linked to below mentions that initially there may not be Japanese text input ability. That to me sounds like it could be a deal breaker for Japanese businesses and consumers. I imagine RIM will do their best to sort out the input issue before the devices are brought to market.

Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003996232

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Taiwan Mobile has announced they will start providing Research in Motion's Blackberry email service, and handsets as of next month. Previously RIM had encountered difficulty with Chinese text input and thus had yet to crack the Taiwanese market. They seem to have sorted out their difficulties and this year have entered the two largest Chinese speaking markets. Luckily for RIM their handsets won't have to compete with state telecom developed "Redberry" knock-offs in Taiwan.

It remains to be seen whether or not the units will prove popular in Taiwan's exceptionally competitive, and 'cool' driven handset market.

Link: http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20060623A9053.html

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A group of 10 Koreans in the process of being smuggled into the US were caught by the RCMP in BC. It is suspected the six females of the group were unknowingly being led into lives of forced prostitution in the Western US. The individuals were offered temporary visitors' permits to allow them to stay in Canada, but they all decided to return home to Korea.

Don't be surprised to see references to news like this story and other border news brought up by American politicians who wish to have tighter border control. It seems in many ways as if Canada is in a no-win situation. When arrests are made in Canada it is pointed out that there are illegal immigrants or terrorits who wish to cross the border from Canada. When no arrests are made it is argued that Canadian security is lacking.

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/bc/story/bc_smuggling20060619.html

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Toon Boom a Canadian based developer of animation software has announced it will cooperate with Singapore's Institute of Technical Education to found a new "Centre of Excellence." The centre will focus on providing world-class animation training to students in Southeast Asia.

Link: http://www.toonboom.com/pdf/pressReleases/2006/TBpress_0606_Singapore_ITE.pdf

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International Cooperation Minister Josee Verner has announced another $20 million in funding for Indonesian development and reconstruction after a series of natural disasters. The money is split between efforts to assist the victims of the May 27th earthquake, the residents of Aceh which was hit by the 2004 Tsunami, and to contain the spread of bird flu.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2006/06/19/afx2825991.html

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Canada and a host of other countries have decided to recognize World Refugee Day by acepting a number of refugess from Myanmar. The refugees have spent years living in camps in neighbouring Thailand. Most of the refugees are of the Karen ethnic group, whose members have been been repeatedly persecuted over the past fifty years.

Hopefully the new immigrants will find a safe and welcoming environment in Canada. A strong and organized diaspora could help to advance democratic reform in Myanmar.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060620.wrefugees0620/BNStory/Front

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A train carrying Chinese Canadians and their descendants who were subjected to the unfair Head Tax and subsequent Exclusion Policy of the first half of the 20th century is headed to Ottawa. Once there the Chinese Canadian community is expecting an apology from Prime Minster Harper as well as some form of redress.

The Chinese community is not of one mind when it comes to what sort of redress should be offered. Some want cash payments in 2006 equivalent dollars. This would be extraordinarily expensive, and also set a precedent the government does not wish to have set. Others want a simple acknowledgment of the particularly trying predicament they were put in by the Canadian government after having contributed so much to the development of the country. A middle of the road solution involving some sort of heritage funding is to be expected.

Actions like these sorts of apologies are not purely domestic matters. They get a good deal of coverage in international Chinese press, and thus contribute to the global image Canada wishes to foster.

Link: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=8cf25574-3d00-4f9a-9187-656945b85903&k=10125

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Air Canada announced today that it will increase service to China by offering direct Toronto to Shanghai flights and increasing Toronto to Beijing service. It is interesting to note in the release regarding the new routes that apart from the domestic ones the new direct services are between Canada-US and Canada-China points. This speaks to the growing Pacific orientation of the Canadian economy.

Link: http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2006/06/17/1637442-sun.html

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Calgary's Zi Corporation is to announce it's newly developed Chinese text input software for cellphones at this week's ComminicAsia show in Singapore. It sounds like an interesting product. Its success will be highly dependent on how effective the predictive text and phrase output is. While entering Latin alphabet based text into cellphone keyboards is exasperating, as one can imagine Chinese with its thousands of characters is even more of a challenge.

Link: http://www.upi.com/Hi-Tech/view.php?StoryID=20060614-112628-6693r

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Husky Energy, one of Canada's largest energy companies, has announced a significant natural gas discovery while conducting test drilling in the South China Sea.

Hong Kong billionaire (and sometimes Vancouver resident) Li Ka Shing's Hutchison Whampoa is majority stakeholder in Husky. There have been rumours floating around for years about a possible take over by a Chinese energy company such as CNOOC or CNPC, but as of yet nothing has come of them. Finds such as this one with energy resources close at home to the Chinese market will likely fuel more speculation of such takeover possibilities.

Link: http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/06/15/afx2816640.html

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Bob Lee, an elder in Western Canada's highly sucessful Chinese business community, has begun working with Canadian National Rail in an attempt to increase its business ties with Asia. CN hopes to be able to direct more of the flood of Chinese goods shipped across the Pacific to ports where it has operations, and then use it's transport and logistics expertise to move the goods to the US or other parts of Canada. Lee offers decades worth of guanxi (關係） to help CN reach its goals.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060614.RBOBLEE14/TPStory/Business

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The University of Waterloo has reached an agreement with China's Ministry of Education to establish Canada's second Confucius Institute. The Institutes are a Chinese initiative to increase the number of Chinese speakers globally, while also promoting Chinese culture and history.

Canada's other Confucius Institute is located at The British Columbia Institute of Technology. I imagine Waterloo's worldwide reputation for its excellent computer science program likely had an impact on the decision about where to locate the Institute.

Link: http://www.therecord.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=record/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1150149012521&call_pageid=1024322085509&col=1024322199564

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Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has been awarded a large contract to re-tube the Wosong 1 Candu 6 nuclear reactor in South Korea by Korean Hydro and Nuclear Power Company Ltd. The contract is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and will substantially increase the expected working life of the Wosong 1 reactor.

Nuclear energy is a $5 billion/year industry in Canada. That number could significantly increase if the current push for new reactors in Canada and internationally is successful.

Link: http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com/287045773689488.php

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Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan has orderd Falun Gong to stop their on-going protest in front of the city's Chinese Consulate. It is, if I am not mistaken, currently the world's longest continuously running protest having started by at least 2001.

Sullivan claims the group is contravening bylaws, while civil rights activists say they shouldn't be silenced. One wonders whether or not this has anything to do with the recent negotiations to finally get China to add Canada to its approved tourist destination list. Certainly the Chinese have been unhappy about the protest and called for its stop on numerous occasions. This could possibly be seen as a conciliatory and co-operative action, saying to the PRC "look, we're on your side, now send us your tourists." Alternately Sullivan and others could just be tired of the Falun Gong activists on the street by the consulate, and indeed concerned about enforcing bylaws.

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/06/09/vancouver-falun-gong-protest.html

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Monte Solberg, Canada's Federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister, is being pulled over hot coals by the media for a slip up yesterday. When speaking about his department's increased focus on language training (a good thing) Solberg suggested the training was increasingly necessary as more immigrants are originating from Asian countries (a bad thing). Solberg claims being unfamiliar with the Latin alphabet makes learning English or French more difficult for Asians.

While his reasoning is unsound (it doesn't take overly long to learn 26 characters, especially for those who have already trained their ability by committing thousands of characters to memory) his conclusions are likely truthful, at least to a degree. On average students with European mother tongues can pick up English slightly faster than Asians. The reasons are likely multiple, but include greater grammatical and sound differences between Asian languages and English.

Nonetheless Solberg should know better than to make ANY generalizations about race. It's simply taboo in Canada. Our chequered racial-relations history has left us with an understandably wary public. That said, more funding for language training is undoubtedly a good thing. Immigration is essential to Canada, and the more well integrated immigrants become the more we are able to share in the benefits they offer our society, and the more they themselves will be able to enjoy life in Canada.

Link: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=9fffc5ee-da5a-4b34-8972-8f6dde84a22b&k=30275

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Nato has agreed to almost double their troop presence in Afghanistan. This is a delicate time for Afghanistan. More security, and assistance opposing the Taliban insurgents who are trying to sabotage the establishment of a prosperous, comparatively free society is essential for a sucessful mission.

America has agreed to keep their troop presence at present levels as opposed to reducing them as had originally been planned.

Link:

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Canadian based Diamant-Film is set to ramp up distribution of non-pvc based food wrapping plastic film in Asia. Because of its huge market, and last year's outlawing of PVC foodwraps, China features especially large in Diamant's sights.

Link: http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/news/ng.asp?n=68289-pvc

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Cinic Group, a major Chinese conglomerate, is in talks to purchase the Canadian registered company Nations Energy, which is in fact controlled principally by Indonesian share holders. The company has holdings in Kazakstan, Azerbaijan, and Indonesia.

This follows up on last year's aquisition by CNPC of Petrokazakstan, another Canadian energy company with holdings in Kazakstan. The PRC is working to actively acquire energy assets to help ensure adequate oil supplies to fuel the country's on-going economic boom. Central Asian holdings are particularly appealing to China due to their proximity to processing and pipline facilities in Xinjiang.

Link: http://www.euro2day.gr/articlesfna/15652387/

Update: It looks like China and India are in talks to offer a joint bid after realizing their competition for Central Asian energy assets wasn't helping either of them. This smart move by both sides will help them get the best deal they can in today's expensive market.

Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/06/bloomberg/sxbriefs.php

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Rights and Democracy, an arm's length foundation funded by the Canadian government, is holding their annual conference this month in Toronto. This year's theme is: Strengthening Democracy in Asia: New Networks and Partnerships for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. This is the precis from their website:

A cross-cultural dialogue to address some of the challenges for democracy in the Asia Pacific, help develop the effective implementation of human rights through national and regional mechanisms, and identify new opportunities for partnerships between Canadian and Asian organizations promoting human rights and democratic development.

Interested parties may follow the link below.

http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/what_we_do/index.php?subsection=documents&lang=en&id=1742&page=1

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BC Cabinet Minister Colin Hansen is trying to speed up China's granting of Approved Destination Status (APS) to Canada. Talks started long ago, but have yet to come to fruition. Once the status is granted tourism from Mainland Chinese is sure to rise at least moderately over the course of the first 5 to 10 years.

There are concerns that APS will lead to increased refugee claims, and possibly more illegal immigrants using Canada as a staging ground to enter the USA. Nonetheless the status is likely to be granted sooner rather than later. It would be very surprising if Chinese tourists weren't flocking to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060513.BCHANSEN13/TPStory/National

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The relatively small market of Thailand has agreed to once again import Canadian beef. Imports were originally halted following the mad cow scare of 2003. This is minor news, but good news for Canadian farmers nonetheless.

Link: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=af649b36-b7ee-4404-97e3-4c2067673dce&k=90105

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China has reaffirmed the promise they made to the Chretien government in 2001 not to execute Lai Changxing if he is extradited. Lai was one of the most successful smugglers in recent Chinese history. His success was ensured by bribing officials of all levels. China wants to bring him home and punish him as part of their crackdown on corruption and crime. Meanwhile Lai claims he was just doing business the way it is done by most in present day China.

Link: http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-05-31T195028Z_01_N31414568_RTRIDST_0_CANADA-CRIME-CANADA-CHINA-COL.XML

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