Stating the fact may be politically and economically inconvenient, but the reality remains that China has been, is, and will continue to be a major intelligence threat to CanadaThe scandal surrounding the flirtatious e-mails from MP Bob Dechert, a parliamentary secretary to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, to the Xinhua News Agency Toronto bureau chief appears to have awakened the Canadian public — and it is hoped, official — to the risk of greater engagement with China.
However, the risks associated with that bilateral relationship transcend political affiliation, and did not begin with Mr. Dechert’s first electronic indiscretion. Canada may not be China’s top priority for espionage activity, but as a highly industrialized economy with an abundance of natural resources, it nevertheless possesses a number of items that are of interest to Beijing. Only when those areas are identified will Canada’s counterintelligence authorities be able to determine the appropriate countermeasures that need to be implemented.
My article appears on page 14 of the current issue of FrontLine Security magazine.
6 comments:
It seems that the title of the article wants to give the false (and naive) idea that in geopolitics, countries only spy on the so-called rivals. Lol.
@Anon: You are, of course, absolutely right, as allies conduct as much, if not more, espionage on one another than competitors. I had no say on the headline. Come to think of it, “Friend and foe” would have been better.
Well, they're friendly foes who use their pretty girl honey trap spies to ensnare quite willing Canadian executives into their webs of intrigue through stunning displays of tradecraft and HUMINT...
As long as there is an economical potential for China, they will continue to pay attention to Canada. Thank you for the notion of Canadian natural resources. China has eyes especially on lumber - it is a well known fact. However, there is no doubt many advantages of China effect in the Canadian economy exist.
@David: Yes, lumber is one. Other items that come to mind, and over which Ottawa and Beijing have already launched negotiations, include oil sands and uranium. There are indeed economic benefits for Canada attendant to such deals with China; however, if this isn’t handled properly, Canada could over time develop “Dutch disease” and make its economy overly dependent on exports of natural resources. Russia is already starting to see this happening in its economic relationship with China.
I would not define the problem of over dependency better.
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