A delegation of federal lawmakers arrived in Taiwan this week, three months after Nancy Pelosi’s visit, which stoked tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
“At a time when China is unreasonably heightening tensions, [la visite de la délégation] demonstrates the support of the Canadian Parliament,” reads a Taiwanese ministerial statement.
The MPs’ trip, announced in August, is the first Canadian parliamentary visit to Taiwan since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They arrived in Taipei on Sunday. Among them are the chair of the committee, Liberal MP Judy Sgro, her colleague Angelo Iacono, Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay as well as Conservative MPs Richard Martel and Chris Lewis. A meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled by October 14.
The five lawmakers, members of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group in the Canadian Parliament, attended National Day celebrations on Monday, during which President Tsai Ing-wen warned Beijing that the island would under no circumstances give up on its freedoms. and its democratic way of life.
“I want to warn Beijing that armed confrontation is not an option”, launched the Taiwanese president, before declaring that the autonomous island will accelerate “the mass production of precision missiles and high-tech warships performance “.
An escalation of tensions in sight?
Since the August visit of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to Taiwan, the threat of an invasion from Beijing has intensified. China has retaliated with unprecedented land and sea military maneuvers since the mid-1990s.
The vice-president of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group of the Canadian Parliament, the Conservative Randy Hoback, also consulted Global Affairs Canada before making the trip. “Pelosi’s visit generated such controversy that […] I think the caution was warranted,” said André Laliberté, professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa.
The displacement of federal deputies, also members of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group of the Canadian Parliament, should not, however, give rise to the same escalation of diplomatic tensions, argues Mr. Laliberté.
The professor recognizes that one cannot “predict the mood of the Chinese leaders”, but he considers that this trip is “not a danger nor” something exceptional. Many European countries sent parliamentarians to Taipei a few months ago. Canada is not doing anything that other democratic countries have not done,” he said.
“It was China that decided to do [de la visite de Nancy Pelosi] a crisis. Because US policy toward Taiwan has not changed. And it’s the same for Canada, “explains the professor, who specifies that it was not members of” Trudeau’s cabinet “who made the trip, but parliamentarians.
“It was the same for Pelosi”, but “Canada does not matter as much in the eyes of China [que les États-Unis] “. The country is not “considered as a military threat, in the same way as the United States and Japan”, underlines Mr. Laliberté.
Beijing, which opposes any initiative giving the Taiwanese authorities international legitimacy, blasted Ms.me Tsai, but did not react to the presence of Canadian MPs. “One of the reasons why there is no crisis may be that China has a lot on its hands right now. The Communist Party convention will take place in the next few days,” said André Laliberté.
If it is “not important on the diplomatic level, there is nevertheless substance behind this visit”, indicates Mr. Laliberté, “since it is a question of discussing files which are important for the two countries. […] We are talking, for example, of air safety treaties or trade agreements”.
With Agence France-Presse