Canadian Politics 5152 Views Mia Omara

New report warns -- Be wary of China







A report out of the University of Calgary ‘s Public Policy school argues that Canada should be weary of Chinese State-Owned Companies. The report claims that these state-owned companies are not independent, and are simply pawns of the Beijing government. The report explains the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) are different from Canadian crown corporations in that they do not operate under the same principles of a market-driven economy.

Duanjie Chen, the economist who wrote the article in question, warns against Canada making business deals with Chinese SOEs as they are simply concerned with increasing their hegemony, or power, globally.

"Canada's business sector should contribute to market-driven economic growth," the paper states. It should not be allowed to become an instrument in China's distorted and often disreputable drive toward global hegemony," says Chen.

Canada has been increasing their business dealings and relationships with Chinese companies, a recent example would be the China National Offshore Oil Co getting the okay from our government to acquire Nexen Inc back in December 2012.  In a comment to the Canadian Press about his report and his thoughts of Chinese SEOs Chen expressed his concern concisely.

"Basically, what I'm saying is I don't trust them."

When natural resources are found in a country, it does become dangerous to have foreign countries exploit them, and take control. That being said, it is natural for governments to want to bring trade and commerce into their countries. The Chinese government is an interesting one, in that it is still technically communist, but it has embraced capitalism perhaps more than any other nation- and is succeeding at it greatly-but at what cost? The Chinese government is extremely totalitarian-on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square, online searches of it were censored by authorities.

Images, and certain keywords such as ‘today,’ as well as numbers and dates related to the day. A government which openly suppresses discourse and communication is one that should not be dealt by nations claiming to be liberal-democracies such as Canada, simply based on principle. 

Chen’s report for the University of Calgary is concerned strictly based on what he perceives as China’s growing desire for hegemony and perhaps even global (at the very least regional) domination, however it is important to keep in mind more humanist reasons for being wary of them- ie human rights abuses and censorship. 


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