五眼联盟和加拿大的“中国恐慌”: 对太平洋外交、研究与和平的威胁?
作者:约翰·普莱斯 2024 年 1 月 17 日
这篇讨论文件揭示了战略与国际研究中心 (CSIS) 和五眼联盟如何在 2018 年制造“中国威胁”,并随着当年 12 月孟晚舟在 YVR 被捕而演变成一场风暴。 在COVID-19大流行期间受到反亚裔种族主义的煽动,然后又受到CSIS泄密和敌对媒体耸人听闻的“外国干涉”指控的煽动,中国威胁已转变为加拿大的“中国恐慌”,影响深远。 本文探讨了这场恐慌形成的三个阶段,以及仇华情绪和反共主义的有毒混合物如何意味着联邦新民主党、保守党和魁人政团正在阻止危机的任何解决。 现在,随着其他国家与中华人民共和国的关系趋于稳定,加拿大却陷入了困境——一个外交上的异类,无法收拾好自己的内部秩序。 与此同时,战略与国际研究中心正在加拿大大学安装前所未有的研究监视系统,加拿大武装部队经常与中国军队在东亚发生小规模冲突。 局势已变得危急,需要进行一些艰难的对话,以确定通往正义与和平的道路。
请在此处阅读完整报告。
执行摘要
这份报告揭露了美国情报机构和加拿大安全情报局(CSIS)如何在2018年制造出夸大的“中国威胁”,并在未来五年内变异为加拿大的“中国恐慌”,影响深远。
该报告首次详细且全面地描述了中国恐慌的产生和兴起,剖析了最近的历史,揭示了由唐纳德·特朗普任命的中央情报局、联邦调查局和其他美国情报机构的负责人是如何发起隔离墙的 《街头日报》呼吁 2018 年初开展一场史无前例的运动,将中国和电信巨头华为描绘成对由美国、加拿大、英国、澳大利亚和新西兰组成的五眼联盟的主要威胁。
战略与国际研究中心 (CSIS) 主任戴维·维尼奥特 (David Vigneault) 参加了在英国伦敦和哈利法克斯举行的五眼联盟会议,他不加批判地接受了美国的指控,并于 2018 年春夏与贾斯汀·特鲁多分享了这些指控。加拿大政府在充分了解美国的指控后,很乐意这样做 接受美国引渡华为高管孟晚舟的请求。 随后迈克尔·斯帕弗(Michael Spavor)和迈克尔·康明凯(Michael Kovrig)被捕引发的风暴使加中关系陷入危机,至今尚未恢复。
中国威胁在 2020 年开始的新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 疫情期间因反亚裔种族主义而加剧,然后又因 CSIS 的不断泄密和媒体对“外国干涉”的指控而加剧,中国威胁已成为加拿大的“中国恐慌”,这是威胁膨胀的典型例子。 对外交、大学研究和国防政策产生深远影响。 调查结果强调,有必要对加中关系进行冷静的重新评估,特别是考虑到印度参与哈迪普·辛格·尼贾尔谋杀案的曝光、加拿大在亚洲的间谍活动的曝光,以及美国和澳大利亚最近为稳定局势而采取的举措 与中国的关系。
报告分为三个部分:
第一部分承认,对中国的批评本身并不是种族主义,中华人民共和国有很多问题可以被用来煽动分歧。 它追踪了这些问题如何被放大和扭曲,导致加中关系陷入持续危机。 结果,加拿大成了外交上的“跛脚鸭”,无法摆脱“中国恐慌”,而美国和澳大利亚则积极寻求与中国和解,以稳定关系。 它强调了过去五年中国恐慌形成的各个阶段,追踪了三种不同叙事的相互作用——中国作为技术威胁; 中国是病毒威胁; 和中国作为干扰者。 然后,它沿着书面线索追溯到 2018 年,当时战略与国际研究中心 (CSIS) 首次从特朗普政府引入了这一叙述。 报告指出,加拿大危机的严重程度与联邦新民主党对中国所采取的“冷战”立场有关。 这导致新民主党/保守党/魁北克政团结成联盟,将“中国威胁”言论制度化,并阻碍任何缓解危机的举措。 最后,它阐述了仇华情绪和反共主义之间的复杂关系,这种关系被用来制造关于“好中国人”和“坏中国人”的分裂叙述。
第 2 部分重点介绍加拿大杰出研究型大学 (U15) 与 CSIS 之间的密切合作。 该报告探讨了 David Vigneault 早在 2018 年就首次接触 U15,中央情报局/联邦调查局声称中国正在利用“人为间谍活动”窃取加拿大大学开发的研究机密。 报告指出失败
U15 的一部分对 CSIS 的主张进行任何形式的科学审查,其结果是采用新的研究指南,导致大学中的种族定性。 该研究探讨了美国和加拿大种族定性的动态和抵制。 政府现在正准备引入大幅扩大的研究限制,6| 五眼联盟和加拿大的“中国恐慌”将标志着加拿大历史上前所未有的研究监控系统的崛起。 CSIS 主任 David Vigneault 声称,CSIS 与“加拿大最大的研究型大学的校长”的合作非常成功,以至于“现在他们问我们,你知道,我们如何才能合作?” 它概述了可能采取的行动,以抵消威胁国际研究合作和学术自由的新兴监视系统。
第三部分重点介绍加拿大武装部队 (CAF) 最近部署在朝鲜半岛和南中国海积极巡逻的情况。 其结果是与该地区的中华人民共和国军队经常发生小规模冲突。 该文件审视了 2018 年初温哥华外交部长会议引发的这些部署的起源,追踪了未来五年的升级情况以及太平洋原住民和中华人民共和国所产生的抵抗。 该报告探讨了加拿大空军的部署如何使美国军方证明其对该地区的长期军事统治是合理的,报告认为最近的加拿大空军军事部署构成了加拿大外交政策的一个重要转变,而这种转变是在没有任何认真的公众协商的情况下发生的。 这种与美军在太平洋地区向前接触的转变是否标志着加拿大寻求自主外交政策的结束? 日益加剧的两极分化将需要艰难的对话和关键的决定,以避免危及地球的战争灾难和环境退化。
关于作者
约翰·普莱斯 (John Price) 是一位历史学家,主要研究亚洲和太平洋地区以及亚裔加拿大人的历史。 他是维多利亚大学名誉教授,着有《定位加拿大:种族、帝国和跨太平洋》一书,并与于宁平合着《介于两者之间的女人:寻找钟维多利亚博士》。 作为一名反种族主义教育家,他与种族社区进行了广泛的合作,合着了《挑战不列颠哥伦比亚省种族主义:150 年的历史和计数》和《1923:挑战过去和现在的种族主义》。 他为 The Tyee、《Victoria Times Colonist》、《Georgia Straight》、《Hill Times》、《Canadian Dimension》和 Rabble.ca 撰写了大量文章。 他是加拿大-中国焦点的董事会成员以及加拿大大学教师协会(CAUT)国家安全参考小组的成员。
国家安全咨询小组 (CAUT):加拿大大学教师协会于 2023 年春季成立了该小组,因为政府对研究人员实施新的国家安全指导方针,导致人们越来越担心种族定性和对学术自由的限制。 该咨询小组由来自全国各地大学的代表组成,负责监督此类指导方针的影响,并就抵消种族定性和学术自由限制的影响的潜在措施向加拿大大学教师协会提供建议。 该小组成员通过不断的努力和批判性分析,为本文提供具体材料,并对初稿提供反馈,为这份讨论文件做出了贡献。
报告最初发表于维多利亚大学亚太倡议中心。
The Five Eyes and Canada's "China Panic": A Threat to Diplomacy, Research and Peace in the Pacific?
BY JOHN PRICE Jan 17, 2024
This discussion paper reveals how CSIS and the Five Eyes manufactured a "China Threat" in 2018 that turned into a firestorm with the arrest of Meng Wanzhou at YVR that December. Fanned by anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, then stoked by CSIS leaks and a hostile media sensationalizing accusations of 'foreign interference', the China threat has mutated to become Canada's "China Panic" with far reaching implications. This paper examines the three stages in the making of this panic, and how a toxic mixture of Sinophobia and anti-communism has meant that the federal NDP, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois are preventing any resolution of the crisis. Now, as other countries stabilize relations with the People's Republic of China, Canada is stuck – a diplomatic outlier unable to get its house in order. Meanwhile, CSIS is in the process of installing an unprecedented research surveillance system in Canadian universities, and Canadian Armed Forces are regularly skirmishing with PRC forces in East Asia. The situation has become critical, necessitating some difficult conversations to determine a path forward towards justice and peace.
Read the full report here.
Executive Summary
This report reveals how US intelligence agencies and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) manufactured an inflated “China Threat” in 2018 that mutated over the next five years to become Canada’s “China Panic” with far reaching implications.
Providing the first detailed and fully referenced account of the creation and rise of the China Panic, the report dissects the recent past to reveal how the heads of the CIA, FBI, and other US intelligence agencies, appointed by Donald Trump, launched what the Wall Street Journal called an unprecedented campaign in early 2018 to portray China and the telecom giant Huawei as a major threat to the Five Eyes, composed of the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Attending Five Eyes’ meetings in London (UK) and in Halifax was CSIS director David Vigneault who uncritically accepted the US accusations, rushing to share them with Justin Trudeau in the spring and summer of 2018. Fully informed of US accusations, the Canadian government willingly accepted the US request to extradite Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. The firestorm that erupted with the subsequent arrests of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig plunged Canada-China relations into a crisis from which they have yet to recover.
Exacerbated by anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020, then amplified by constant CSIS leaks and media accusations of ‘foreign interference’, the China threat has become Canada’s ‘China Panic’, a classic example of threat inflation with farreaching effects on diplomacy, university research, and defence policy. The findings highlight the need for a sober reassessment of Canada-China relations, particularly in light of revelations regarding the involvement of India in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, exposés of Canada’s own spy operations in Asia, and recent US and Australian initiatives to stabilize relations with China.
The report is presented in three parts:
Part 1 acknowledges that criticism of China in itself is not racist, and that the People’s Republic of China has plenty of problems that can be and are used to foment dissension. It tracks how such issues have been amplified and distorted leading to an unrelenting crisis in Canada-China relations. As a result, Canada has become a diplomatic lame duck, unable to extract itself from the ‘China Panic’ while the US and Australia actively seek a rapprochement with China in an effort to stabilize relations. Highlighting the stages in the making of the China Panic over the past five years, it tracks the interactions of three distinct narratives – China as a techno-threat; China as a viral threat; and China as interferer. It then follows the paper trail back to 2018, when CSIS first imported the narrative from the Trump administration. The report suggests the intensity of the crisis in Canada is related to the position staked out by the federal NDP as a ‘cold warrior’ regarding China. This has led to an NDP/Conservative/Bloc Québécois alliance that has institutionalized the ‘China threat’ discourse and stymied any initiative to mitigate the crisis. It concludes by illustrating the complicated relationship between Sinophobia and anti-communism that is used to create a divisive narrative about ‘good Chinese’ and ‘bad Chinese’.
Part 2 focuses on the close collaboration that has arisen between Canada’s preeminent research universities (U15) and CSIS. The report explores how David Vigneault first approached the U15 as far back as 2018 with CIA/FBI claims that China was using “human enabled espionage” to steal research secrets developed in Canadian universities. The report points to the failure on the part of the U15 to subject CSIS claims to any form of scientific scrutiny with the result being the adoption of new research guidelines that have led to racial profiling in universities. The study explores the dynamics of, and resistance to, racial profiling in both the US and Canada. The government is now preparing to introduce vastly expanded research restrictions that 6 | The Five Eyes and Canada’s “China Panic” will mark the rise of a research surveillance system unprecedented in Canadian history. CSIS director David Vigneault claims that CSIS efforts with the “principals of the largest Canadian research universities,” have been so successful that it has come “to the point now it is them asking us, you know, how can we work together?” It outlines possible actions that might counteract the emerging surveillance systems threatening international research collaboration and academic freedom.
Part 3 focuses on recent deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to actively patrol around the Korean peninsula and in the South China Sea. The result has been regular skirmishes with PRC forces in the region. Examining the origins of these deployments arising from the Vancouver Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in early 2018, the paper tracks the escalation over the next five years and the resistance it engenders on the part of Indigenous peoples in the Pacific as well as from the PRC. Probing how CAF deployments enable the US military to justify its longstanding military domination of the area, the report suggests that recent CAF military deployments constitute an important shift in Canadian foreign policy that has taken place without any serious public consultation. Does this shift towards forward engagements with the US military in the Pacific signal the end to the search for an autonomous Canadian foreign policy? Increasing polarization will demand difficult conversations and critical decisions to avoid the calamities of war and environmental degradation that imperil the planet.
About the Author
John Price is a historian with a focus on Asia and the Pacific as well as Asian Canadian history. Emeritus professor at the University of Victoria, he is the author of Orienting Canada: Race, Empire and the Transpacific and, with Ningping Yu, A Woman in Between: Searching for Dr. Victoria Chung. As an anti-racist educator, he has worked extensively with racialized communities, co-authoring Challenging Racist British Columbia: 150 Years and Counting and 1923: Challenging Racisms Past and Present. He has written extensively for The Tyee, the Victoria Times Colonist, Georgia Straight, the Hill Times, Canadian Dimension, and Rabble.ca. He is a board member of Canada-China Focus and a member of the National Security Reference Group of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).
The National Security Reference Group (CAUT): The Canadian Association of University Teachers established this group in the spring of 2023 in light of growing concerns about racial profiling and restrictions to academic freedom arising from new national security guidelines being imposed by the government on researchers. Composed of representatives from universities across the country, the reference group monitors the impact of such guidelines and advises the Canadian Association of University Teachers on potential measures to counteract the effects of racial profiling and restrictions on academic freedom. Members of the group contributed to this discussion paper through their ongoing efforts and critical analysis, in providing specifical materials for the paper, and in providing feedback to initial drafts.
Report originally published on University of Victoria's Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives.