PRC Influencer ... or Loyal Canadian ...

"The so-called 'forced labour' accusation has long been an absurd lie fabricated by certain Western forces based on ideological bias."

"It has long been divorced from facts and lacks empirical evidence, yet it has been repeatedly used to smear China."

"This person [China expert Margaret McCuaig-Johnston] has repeatedly acted as an anti-China pawn in public under the guise of a so-called 'expert' ...  becoming a notorious hardliner on China in Canada with a long list of bad deeds."

Observer Network, China

 

"He [Liberal MP Michael Ma] looks like a hero, because he took me on as a critic of the motherland."

"He is supporting the motherland and that makes him look very good and makes me look terrible."

" ... I think he thought it would be well-received by the Chinese embassy, which it  was."

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston

Liberal Member of Parliament Michael Ma along with other Liberal Members of Parliament in the foyer of the House of Commons. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

 

During a House of Commons industry committee meeting to discuss the recently agreed-upon trade issue during Prime Minister Mark Carney's trip to Beijing to promote a freer trade protocol between Canada and China, an exchange was made that satisfied both countries' priorities; 40,000 Chinese EVs would be allowed into Canada in exchange for Beijing reducing the steep tariffs it had imposed for Canadian canola, seafood and pork; in China's case a fungible alternative for products its consumers favour, and in Canada's case sacrificing its own auto industry's fragile future.

 

During the meeting, now-retired senior government bureaucrat Margaret McCuaig-Johnson brought forward conclusions of a Human Rights Watch report of 2024 that "dozens of parts in each Chinese EV are made with aluminum from Uyghur forced labour". This related directly to the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passing a  resolution identifying the Chinese Communist Party executing a 'genocide' on Uyghurs and the Turkic populations of Xinjiang Province.

 

On the committee, Mr. Ma sharply questioned that assertion, challenging Ms. McCuaig-Johnston, now a senior fellow with the graduate school of public and international affairs at the University of Ottawa, for proof of such a purported genocide: "Have you witnessed this yourself?" This despite that experts with the United Nations express deep concern with respect to persistent charges of forced labour affecting Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz groups, along with Tibetans within the Autonomous Region of the Xinjiang Uyghur area and other parts of China.

 

 

 

That pointed skepticism aroused a chorus of disbelief and condemnation of the stance taken by MP Ma sitting with the Liberal caucus, for which he later half-apologized; he was misunderstood, it appears. He was not, he averred taking the side of the Chinese government which consistently denies all and any such accusations. After all, the House had adopted that motion against the People's Republic of China in 2021. 

 

Ms. McCuaig-Johnston expressed her opinion that her aggressive interlocutor was supporting the 'strategic partnership' the PM had struck with China, since he had formed part of the delegation to Beijing. His questions whether she had an "advanced degree in technology or cyber security", followed by whether the China Strategic Risks Institute she advises "specifically looks for risks when there isn't one", marked the  tenor of his questioning which he demanded strictly 'yes' or 'no' responses to.  

 

In her turn, Ms. McCuaig-Johnston explained that for the past 40 years as a federal government employee she had travelled to and conducted business with China. It was the arbitrary arrest of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor charged with spying on China and held for almost three years before they were finally released, that spurred her to look a little harder at human rights abuses beyond China's penchant for 'hostage diplomacy', to add to her experience and impressions of the PRC. 

 

Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending new MP Michael Ma after he apologized for making dismissive comments about the issue of Chinese forced labour last week. Ma, who defected from the Conservatives, earned sharp criticism from his former party over the comments.  Still from video, CBC

"Mr. Ma has apologized for his comments and directly and unequivocally recognized the seriousness of the issue, continues to be a member of our caucus, and I'll continue to work with him."

"I followed this issue over the years in China and elsewhere, and there is evidence of child labour around the world."

"Issues of supply chain integrity, including forced labour, child labour, and ensuring that those standards are in place will be part of those discussions, I'm certain."

"And ensuring that we have the adequate transparency for any good from any of our trade partners." 

Prime Minister Mark Carney