Yeah, it must feel good to wake up in the morning as a tankie and know the ultimate truth about everything and how to explain it to us simpletons.

Is this why they ban all foreign media in China?

This has nothing to do with EVs or some poll or your o mine opinion on any topic. The source is deliberately spreading anti-democratic, authoritarian propaganda. It ultimately aims at suppressing any freedom of opinion.

As an addition a personal opinion: I don’t mind to engage in trade with China, but I argue that Mr. Carney’s Canada-China deal, if not corrected or even deepened, will reap benefits only for one side. And this side is not Canada.

According to the current deal, Canada delivers commodities (canola) to China, but China delivers high-end products (EVs) to Canada. Deals like this will erode the Canadian industrial base further. At its peak almost one generation ago, in 1999, Canada produced more than 3 million cars. Today it produces 1.3 million.

Furthermore, this trade deal will increase Canada’s trade deficit with China which already stands at around 40 billion US dollars, according to Comtrade.

While China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner (behind the U.S.), less then 4% of Canada’s exports go to China (U.S. counts for almost 77%), and 12% of Canadian imports come from China. On the other hand, only 2% of China’s imports come from and only 1.3% of China’s exports go to Canada.

This means Canada plays an even much smaller role for China than China does for Canada, making Ottawa extremely vulnerable for future political and economic coercion, which is definitely a major part in Beijing’s playbook as we have seen in the past.

This is why Canada’s future lies elsewhere, namely in trade and economic ties with countries of shared democratic values such as those in Europe, in Australia and New Zealand, in South Korea and Japan.

These democratic countries play a minimal role for Canada both in exports and imports, which means there is a huge potential for the future.

[Edit typo.]

The GT is a Chinese state-controlled propaganda medium.

Such incentives should be available only for ‘Made in Canada’ products. If parts are manufactured abroad, it should be in countries with appropriate working conditions are in place. The EU is in the process of establishing a similar law afaik. But Canada should avoid even buying, let alone incentivizing purchases of cars built by coerced labor.

I agree. But such incentives should be given only if a substantial part of the overall product benefits the Canadian economy. If parts from abroad are used, then those areas or countries that share Canadian democratic values may be given a similar status imo. Canada shouldn’t give money to autocratic states where people often work under slave-like conditions.

Such incentives should be available only for ‘Made in Canada’ products (and I mean really made in Canada, not just sold by a company with headquarters in Canada but all the production abroad). The EU is in the process of establishing a similar a law afaik.

Yeah, but it’s good that Canada’s strategy is country agnostic, regardless of who tries to engage in foreign interference. It’s bad here and there I would say.

TikTok would be the exception, but it’s regulated by the Chinese government in ways we cannot see or inspect.

How is Tiktok an exception? It’s the same as all the others, and China is quite famous for interference as the article also suggests.

The report clearly says that Canadian exporters were already finding alternative markets for canola and other products after Chinese tariffs. It would be much better for Canada to continue this path of diversification.

China’s Xi Jinping isn’t any better than Trump. The Chinese government will exploit any dependence in the future through economic and political coercion, will further interfere in Canadian politics, engage in transnational repression on Canadian soil … all the things we have seen in Canada and all other countries.

We can’t make India and China and Australia agree with us on all core values …

Naming China in the same sentence as Australia in this context is odd.

This ‘manufactured consent’ is a very widespread propaganda buzzword, and from the way it is mostly used there are strong doubts that many people have read the book where it comes from. But Herman and Chomsky’s book “Manufacturing consent” is heavily used in Chinese propaganda circles, there is even a Chinese translation as you may know (while other Western books are censored in China. Why?)

This is pure propaganda that leads any discussion always to some sort of ‘class struggle.’ It’s always a fight. It’s all about us and them. If you don’t share the opinion, you are the enemy. In this setting, no other solution is possible. Period.

China is likely to invest in Canadian production to support North American sales.

Chinese EVs are an improvement.

Even if China builds EVs in Canada, they will bring its own migrant workers from China as they always do. Also, supply chains of these cars are fully integrated with Chinese companies only.

Chinese EVs aren’t an improvement. It becomes harder for Canada to develop its own industry, and makes the government in Ottawa vulnerable for future coercion.

When average corporate media tries to find middle ground position …

Is the “elite media” now is trying to “cultivating public consent” as the article says, or - as you say - do they try “to find middle ground”?

This ‘advocacy journalism’ is no journalism at all. It doesn’t even intend to research all the facts but rather only those that fit into a certain predefined narrative (while accusing others of being biased). Based on this half-truth, they then give you a desired opinion.

This is inherently bad as it only aims to sow division and makes any civilised political discourse increasingly impossible. That’s exactly what extremists from the right and left as well as malign foreign state actors want.

Irrespective of the topic, I am a bit tired of this kind of journalism that accuses others - in this case, the “elite media” - of “cultivating public consent,” while at the same time it is exactly what they are doing themselves.

That’s a sensationalist headline that gives you the desired opinion (you don’t even need to click) and a poor content ignoring major facts important to the issue that are not even mentioned.

Overall, they have a strong bias in narratives, it’s by definition neither independent nor quality media imo.

The same poll says that Canadians prioritize human rights and economic opportunities in new trade deals. How did Mr. Carney pursued that?

That aside, it’s just a poll that gave participants a binary choice. If you ask Canadians about their most important economic partners, they paint a different picture: They prefer the European Union (43%), then the UK (40%), Mexico (33%), and only then comes China (27%).

The same poll says that Canadians prioritize human rights and economic opportunities in new trade deals. How did Mr. Carney pursued that?

That aside, it’s just a poll that gave participants a binary choice. If you ask Canadians about their most important economic partners, they paint a different picture: They prefer the European Union (43%), then the UK (40%), Mexico (33%), and only then comes China (27%).

The “us” in the statement refers to voters.

Yeah, and myself, too? And those other voters with a opinion different from yours?

It’s a safe bet that you and your like minded ‘comrades’ don’t represent the voters.

Doesn’t it sound weird to yourself when you relentlessly and exclusively convey pro-Chinese propaganda points while accusing others of being biased?

During the last few days alone, you provided comments with no meaning, made inferences from books you apparently haven’t even read, referred to ‘intellectuals’ you can’t name, while constantly spreading pseudo-intellectual opinions paired with second-hand intimidation.

Why don’t you give up on this community already? Things have been increasingly not going your way here. Stick to communities where the mods and members are more receptive to your agenda.