Some of you will have noticed a new and slightly shocking example of Canada’s longstanding case of information constipation: namely, the occurrence of Fifth China-Canada Defence Coordination Dialogue, which took place in Ottawa on Friday of last week.
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which → notice → week
If you are hearing about this for the first time, you may have all kinds of questions.
uncertain
you → hear → questions
Such as “Canada is coordinating its national defence with China’s?” Or “Why are we doing that?” Or “What would this involve
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this → coordinate → What
And perhaps the biggest question of all: why hasn’t Canada officially announced that this happened?
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this → announce → all
Because the People’s Republic of China, for its part, managed to put out a press release the day after the conference took place.
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conference → manage → place
Apparently representatives of the two countries “had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of mutual interest, expressed willingness to strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, and enhanced mutual understanding and trust.”
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To be sure, this paragraph of verbiage tells the Chinese and Canadian publics nothing, but at least the Chinese Ministry of National Defence went to the trouble.
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Ministry → have → trouble
One notices how much a literally communist press circular resembles the press releases our own government authorities and corporations routinely emit, when they get around to it …
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they → notice → it
There has been no corresponding public explanation of the talks from the Canadian side, but the Globe and Mail’s star Steve Chase and Canadian Press’s Dylan Robertson, chasing down the Chinese clue, were fed a statement by a spokesman for our defence department.
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Chase → correspond → department
The spokesman was able to confirm that the meeting took place, and that it happened in Ottawa.
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it → confirm → Ottawa
“As part of ongoing working-level dialogue,” the statement read, “Canadian and Chinese defence officials met on September 4, in support of ongoing military-to-military communications at the functional level.”
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officials → work → level
Which doesn’t add much to what the Chinese said (proactively, without having to be hassled by reporters).
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Chinese → add → reporters
It added that “As a matter of longstanding practice, the Government of Canada does not publicize working-level meetings by officials.”
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Government → add → officials
Chase was able to find a background source who told him that about 10 Canadian officers and diplomats were present.
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officers → find → him
It is certainly the longstanding practice of Canadian officials to sit on information until it dies of buttock suffocation, but I wonder if this is justifiable or healthy.
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this → sit → suffocation
Actually, scratch that: I don’t wonder.
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I → scratch → that
It’s not.
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It → ’ → ?
No doubt some people will be tempted to make trouble with the Americans about a low-level side chat between the Canadian and Chinese militaries, but look at how the U.S. military handles this stuff.
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military → tempt → stuff
The senior American military commander in the Pacific, Adm. Samuel Paparo, met personally with his People’s Liberation Army counterpart on Canadian soil the day before the China-Canada talks.
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commander → meet → talks
We know this because U.S. Pacific Command put out a public press release about the meeting.
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Command → know → meeting
And this American statement, unlike Canada’s privately circulated one, actually explains the purpose of the meeting in plain English words.
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statement → circulate → words
“The two leaders [Paparo and PLA Gen. Yang Zhibin] discussed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between senior U.S. and Chinese military leaders to reduce the risk of miscalculation and promote safe and professional conduct between forces.”
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leaders → discuss → forces
A sensible American citizen will read those words and think “Well, sure, that makes sense.
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that → read → sense
Perhaps we’re adversaries of China, and they have territorial interests that overlap with ours and those of our key regional allies, but we’ve got to be able to talk to one another and maybe establish basic ground rules in order to prevent unintended conflict and escalatory incidents.”
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we → ’re → conflict
Probably the same kind of thing is true about the China-Canada conference, but why didn’t somebody say so before Canadian were reading about the talks in the South Korean press?
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Canadian → say → press
Isn’t it more important for Canada to be forthright about this stuff, given that Canada-haters in the U.S. are bound to squawk about it?
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haters → give → it
We have left those people largely free to say whatever crazy nonsense they like without contradiction, haven’t we?
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we → leave → contradiction
And God forbid I mention it, but our Liberal governments have an intermittent 60-year history of smooching up to communist China, and such a government arguably has a special duty to account for a “Defence Coordination Dialogue.”
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government → forbid → Dialogue
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