Dear readers, the CCF newsletter is returning to its regular schedule – a release every 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month for 2024.

Having embraced and even amplified the Trump-inspired ’evil China‘ narrative, Canada is now left holding the bag. Even worse, our ’China Panic‘ is having negative impacts on universities and military policy in Asia and the Pacific. In calling for a ceasefire in Israel‘s relentless attacks against Gaza and the West Bank, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have parted ways with the United States, a key ally.

Yet, when it comes to China, Canada seems to be stuck in the mud.

It follows a key summit in San Francisco in November where U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to work to curb fentanyl production and export, in a major breakthrough.

"We had in-depth communication and were pragmatic. We reached common understanding on the work plan," China's Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong said at a joint address with the U.S. delegation before the group's inauguration in Beijing.

After months of behind-the-scenes preparations, including deciding which key players will be able to participate and establishing parameters for the national security and intelligence-centric process, commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue has begun presiding over the first open phase of the national probe.

Although immigration officials did not allege that Zhang committed espionage herself, the IRB found that her 11-year employment with OCAO contributed to its efforts to exert pressure on the Chinese diaspora in Canada. According to the IRB, the OCAO has been involved in espionage activities against targeted individuals and groups in Canada, which goes against Canada’s security interests.

Japanese economic delegations had visited China every year since 1975, but those visits lapsed during the COVID-19 era when China largely shuttered its borders due to its stringent pandemic policies.
On Thursday, delegates from the powerful Keidanren, as the Japan Business Federation is known, and Japan-China Economic Association met Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People.

Published: January 25, 2024
Written by: Parisa Hafezi and Andrew Hayley

Chinese officials have asked their Iranian counterparts to help rein in attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthis, or risk harming business relations with Beijing, four Iranian sources and a diplomat familiar with the matter said.

The discussions about the attacks and trade between China and Iran took place at several recent meetings in Beijing and Tehran, the Iranian sources said, declining to provide details about when they took place or who attended.

"Basically, China says: 'If our interests are harmed in any way, it will impact our business with Tehran. So tell the Houthis to show restraint," said one Iranian official briefed on the talks, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Sunday, Wang said the international community should "listen" carefully to the legitimate concerns in the Middle East.

Published: January 18, 2024
Written by: Jason Bordoff and Meghan L. O‘Sullivan

How COP28 Demonstrated What‘s Missing From Climate Diplomacy

In the waning days of 2023, likely the warmest year the earth has experienced in recorded history, nearly 100,000 people came together in the United Arab Emirates—one of the world‘s largest oil and gas producers—to reach a consensus on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The final agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, also known as COP28, was hailed for calling for a transition away from fossil fuels. 

Clean energy contributed a record 11.4tn yuan ($1.6tn) to China‘s economy in 2023, accounting for all of the growth in investment and a larger share of economic growth than any other sector. 

The new sector-by-sector analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures, industry data and analyst reports, illustrates the huge surge in investment in Chinese clean energy last year – in particular, the so-called “new three” industries of solar power, electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries.
Solar power, along with manufacturing capacity for solar panels, EVs and batteries, were the main focus of China‘s clean-energy investments in 2023, the analysis shows.

Methane is not targeted by China’s 2030 carbon-peaking agenda, which only deals with CO2. But it does feature in the country’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions for all greenhouse gases before 2060, according to Beijing’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua.

Experts tell China Dialogue that the new methane plan is significant in two regards. One is its sheer importance to curbing global warming, by tackling a potent greenhouse gas. The other is its geopolitical weight, as a symbol of China–US climate cooperation.

CIAC2024: Climate Solutions is being held at the Pan Pacific Singapore on February 27-29, 2024, immediately following its counterpart, CIAC2024: Agri-food. CIAC2024: Climate Solutions will convene Asia-based and Canada-based private sector, government, university, and other leaders to connect and learn from each other‘s priorities and experiences in climate policy, climate technologies, climate research, and climate finance. Given the significant impacts of climate change globally – but especially across Asia – we are excited to convene this unique opportunity to forge co-operative and collaborative approaches that harness the skills, expertise, and innovations of those on both sides of the Pacific. 

This multiplex anti-AAPI Hate Speech data consisted of four aspects including COVID-specific hate, anti-Chinese politics, general AAPI hate, and counter hate. Second, I show that Sinophobia was also popular in Chinese language communities on Twitter by mining over 25 million Chinese tweets mentioning any Chinese characters related to China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese, and Asians after the COVID-19 outbreak. I show that the majority of these tweets were negative toward China, and they were targeting the Chinese government and CCP.  Both datasets are available to scholars, and we call for more collaborative research to study the causes, consequences, and patterns of anti-Asian/Chinese sentiments online.

Published: January 23, 2024
Written by: Tom Sanders

A British YouTuber who was accosted by a Chinese ‘TV crew’ who demanded he stop filming them in public has been accused of stoking racial tension.

Upon approaching the pianist, he repeatedly referred to them as Japanese, before playing a well-known song discriminatory towards Chinese people on the piano.

Published: January 25, 2024
Written by: Leah Hamilton and Yvonne Su

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced a new cap on international students. In 2024, IRCC aims to issue 360,000 study permits, a 35-per-cent reduction from 2023. This announcement comes on the heels of a doubling of the cost-of-living requirement, whereby international students coming to study in any province except Québec have to demonstrate they have access to $20,635. There is no doubt that predatory private colleges and exploitative international student recruiters have acted unethically, and steps must be taken to address their actions. International students also deserve access to supports and services they need to thrive in Canada. 
But dominant media narratives illustrated in headlines like “Canada to cap international student permits amid housing crunch” are inaccurate and harmful. They also shift responsibility away from those truly responsible: Elected officials at all levels of the government and predatory private colleges.

Lingnan Culture as Method: How to Study Wong Fei-hung Legend? with Yu Chang (Hong Kong Collectors Society, author of Wong Fei-hung Legend and Lingnan Culture)
Preservation of Chinese Heritage through Cantonese Opera in Canada with Jack Leong (York University Libraries)
Domesticating Suzie: Cultural Politics in the Rewriting of The World of Suzie Wong with Chris Song (University of Toronto).

Chinese Culture Day will also feature a Cantonese Opera performance—Scramble for an Umbrella—from Praying to the Moon, one of the four Southern Opera Classics performed by Alice K. Chan (Starlight Chinese Opera Performing Arts Centre) and Michelle Cai.