加拿大前驻华大使称西方对中国的理解“可悲”！必须加深接触
据《环球邮报》报道，鲍达民现任矿业巨头力拓（Rio Tinto Ltd.）的董事长。他曾担任驻华大使两年多，卸任后成为印度太平洋咨询委员会（Indo-Pacific Advisory Committee）成员，该委员会于去年夏天结束运作。
报道称，许多西方国家已经开始努力与中国保持距离。加拿大去年发布的印太战略称中国是“一个越来越具有破坏性的全球大国”，已经习惯于无视使其迅速崛起的国际规则。该战略承诺加拿大将在存在分歧的领域“挑战中国”，并指出加拿大一直是中国强制外交的接受方。
本周，鲍达民在英国伦敦酒店举行的农历新年晚宴上发表讲话，主张采取不同的做法。晚宴的企业赞助商包括中国银行、汇丰银行和中石油。
他在讲话中热情洋溢地谈到中国在世界上的作用以及与中国人民和企业拉近关系的必要性。他说，在一个变得更加动荡和不稳定的世界里，“我们必须继续加深我们在这种民间层面的理解和接触。”
他说：“我认为我们对中国文明和文化的了解非常薄弱，坦率地说，这是可悲的。”他称有数十万中国学生在西方国家学习，而在中国学习的学生很少。他说，西方社会和企业确实有很多东西要向这个威权国家学习。
“中国不仅是一个大市场。它是创新的源泉。它是人才的源泉。它将成为新思维方式的源泉，使我们所有人受益。”
鲍达民拒绝了采访请求，但他在给《环球报》的一份声明中表示，他在伦敦传递的信息是，“中国在我们的世界中发挥着关键作用，我认为，参与和加深我们对中国社会的相互了解，为所有人创造机会，比以往任何时候都更重要。”
加拿大前驻华大使Guy Saint-Jacques在外交使团工作了近40年，他说，很明显，西方应该花更多的时间研究中国，但考虑到中国共产党对中国的控制越来越紧，并试图改变国际机构以符合其目的，这在一定程度上是出于防御目的。
“我们需要更多的年轻人学习，我们需要政府官员和智库对了解中国更感兴趣，但我要说的是，主要是了解中国共产党，因为现在的政府与共产党是一样的。”
他说，鲍达民对商界听众的演讲中缺少一个警告。他说，在中国做生意的公司应该知道，可能成为间谍和盗窃的受害者。“在中国大陆仍有不错的生意可做，但要让你的市场多样化，因为如果中国大陆攻占台湾，你可能会大吃一惊。”
另一位前加拿大驻华大使、在外交部门工作了30年的David Mulroney说，鲍达民似乎是在为商界听众量身定做他的言论。
鲍达民是确保两名加拿大人康明凯(Michael Kovrig)和迈克尔·斯帕沃尔(Michael Spavor)从中国获释的关键人物。他之前是咨询公司麦肯锡(McKinsey)的全球管理合伙人，曾对中国赞不绝口。
他在2016年对外交关系委员会表示：“我看好中国。”
报道称，鲍达民本周的言论表明，他卸任大使后，对这个国家的感情仍在继续。
加拿大前外交官Gordon Houlden曾在北京和香港担任外交职务，他表示，他对在中国学习的加拿大人数量下降也感到担忧，在中国学习的加拿大人可能会对世界第二大经济体有更好的了解。他指出，中国培养的科学、技术、工程和数学专业毕业生大约是美国的8倍。
加拿大前驻华大使在春节晚宴上称西方不了解中国
【星岛综合报道】加拿大前驻华大使鲍达民（Dominic Barton）称西方对中国的理解是“可悲的”，并指这个国家应该被视为“新思维方式”的源泉，但其前任就认为他似乎是在为商业听众量身定制自己的言论。
据《环球邮报》（The Globe and Mail）报道，矿业巨头力拓矿业集团（Rio Tinto）董事长鲍达民（Dominic Barton），此前曾任驻华大使两年多，他在卸任大使后，曾受委任为一个14人印度-太平洋顾问委员会（Indo-Pacific Advisory Committee）成员，该委员会于去年夏天结束了运作。他是渥太华近期对华态度最有影响力的人物之一。
以美国为首的许多西方国家正开始努力与中国保持距离，美国称中国威胁其经济福祉和国家安全，并决心反击，欧盟则希望限制在电动车和风力涡轮机所需材料等关键领域对中国的依赖。
加拿大去年发布的印太战略称中国是“一个日益具有破坏性的全球大国”，而加拿大“将在分歧领域挑战中国”，并表示加拿大一直承受中国的胁迫外交。
鲍达民本周在伦敦Dorchester Hotel举行的农历新年晚宴上发表讲话中，主张采取不同的做法，晚宴由英中贸易协会（China-Britain Business Council）等多个团体主办。此次晚宴的企业赞助商包括中国银行、汇丰银行和中石油。
《环球邮报》获得了鲍达民在那次晚宴上的讲话录音，他在讲话中热情洋溢地谈到了中国在世界上的角色以及与中国人民和企业拉近关系的必要性。他说，在一个变得更加动荡和不稳定的世界中，“我们必须继续加深人与人之间的理解和接触”。
他称西方对中华文明和文化的了解非常肤浅，“坦率地说，这是可悲的，”他说。并指相比起数十万在西方国家学习的中国留学生，较少西方国家的人从事相反方向的研究。
他说，事实上，西方社会和企业有很多地方值得向这个国家学习。
“中国不仅仅是一个大市场，这是创新的泉源，是人才的来源。它将成为新思维方式的源泉，让我们所有人受益。”他说。
鲍达民拒绝了采访请求，但在给《环球邮报》的声明中表示，他在伦敦传达的讯息是“中国在我们的世界中发挥关键作用，我相信，接触并加深我们与中国的相互了解，比以往任何时候都更加重要，中国社会为所有人创造机会。”
2012年至2016年担任加拿大驻华大使的赵朴(Guy Saint-Jacques)表示，西方国家显然应该花更多时间研究中国，但鉴于中国共产党加强对国家的控制，并试图改变国际机构以适应其目的，部分是出于防御。
“我们需要更多的年轻人来学习，我们也需要政府官员和智库更有兴趣了解中国，但我想说，主要是了解中国共产党，因为现在的（中国）政府，就所有实际目的而言，都与共产党相同。”
赵朴指鲍达民在对商界听众的演讲中缺少警告。他说，在中国开展业务的公司应该知道他们将面临的风险。
另一位在外交领域工作了30年的前加拿大驻华大使马大维（David Mulroney）表示，鲍达民似乎在为商业听众量身定制自己的言论。不过，他表示，商界领袖并没有对习近平对中国经济日益加强的控制视而不见，中国正在应对房地产危机、大量青年失业率和疲软的需求。
鲍达民是促成康明凯（Michael Kovrig）和斯帕弗（Michael Spavor）获释的关键人物。他在成为加拿大驻华最高外交官之前，担任麦肯锡全球管理合伙人，也对中国赞不绝口。
他在2016年对“外交关系协会”(Council on Foreign Relations)表示：“我看好中国，”并补充道，“我可能在那里喝了太久的酷爱饮料。”
鲍达民本周的言论表明，他在担任大使期间对这个国家持续怀有感情。
力拓相当依赖中国市场，2021年中国收入占该公司全球收入的57%。2022年，力拓在北京开设了中国技术创新中心，该公司表示，这将有助于其“利用中国在研究、技术和创新方面领先的专业知识，帮助解决我们的一些运营和业务挑战。”
鲍达民描述了中国在申请专利和安装再生能源产能方面发挥的巨大作用，尽管他没有提到中国绝大多数电力仍然依赖煤炭，当局透过允许大量新建燃煤发电来应对最近的热浪。
“对于像力拓这样依赖并需要工程师的公司来说，随着我们的发展，中国已成为重要的人才来源地，”鲍达民说，并补充：“重要的是我们应相互了解并清楚正在发生的事情。”
曾在北京和香港任职的前加拿大外交官侯秉东(Gordon Houlden)，也对在中国留学的加拿大人数量下降感到担忧——他们可能会在中国更好地了解这个世界第二大经济体。他估计，今天这个数字是数百而不是数千。他指出，中国培养的科学、技术、工程和数学毕业生大约是美国的8倍。
China offers 'new way of thinking,' former Canadian ambassador tells business audience
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-rio-tinto-china-ambassador/#:~:text=
STEVEN CHASE FEBRUARY 9, 2024
Western understanding of China is"pathetic," and the Communist Party-run country should be seen as a source for “new ways of thinking,” says Dominic Barton, Canada’s former top envoy to Beijing.
Mr. Barton, the chair of mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. RIO-N, has been among the most influential figures in Ottawa's recent posture toward the rising superpower, spending more than two years as ambassador to China. After he stepped down from that post, the federal government named him to a 14-member Indo-Pacific Advisory Committee, which wound down operations last summer.
Many Western countries have begun working to distance themselves from China. The U.S. has resolved to push back on what the State Department, in an integrated country strategy, calls Beijing's “harmful practices, such as the use of forced labour, and the channeling of state-directed investment in ways that threaten our economic welfare and national security.” The European Union wants to limit its reliance on China in key areas, such as materials needed for electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy, released last year, called China “an increasingly disruptive global power” that has grown accustomed to disregarding the international rules and norms that enabled its immense rise. Canada “will challenge China” in areas of disagreement, the strategy pledged, noting that Canada has been on the receiving end of China's coercive diplomacy.
Mr. Barton this week argued for a different approach in remarks to a Lunar New Year dinner hosted this week by several groups including the China-Britain Business Council at The Dorchester Hotel in London. The dinner’s corporate sponsors included the Bank of China, HSBC and PetroChina.
The Globe and Mail obtained a recording of Mr. Barton’s remarks at that dinner, in which he is effusive about China’s role in the world and the need to grow closer to its people and companies. In a world that has grown more turbulent and volatile, he said, “it’s imperative that we continue to deepen our understanding and engagement at this people-to-people level.
“And as we think about our understanding in the West of China, I think it is very weak – it’s frankly, pathetic – how much we understand of the civilization and the culture,” he said, comparing the hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in Western countries with the smaller number pursuing studies in the opposite direction.
Indeed, he said, Western societies and companies have much to learn from the authoritarian country.
“China is not a big market only. It’s a source of innovation. It’s a source of talent. And it’s going to be a source of new ways of thinking that can benefit us all,” he said.
Mr. Barton declined a request for an interview but in a statement to The Globe said his message in London was that “China plays a key role in our world, and I believe it is more important than ever to engage and deepen our mutual understanding of Chinese society to create opportunities for all.”
Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China who spent almost 40 years in the diplomatic corps, said it’s clear the West should spend more time studying China – but in part for defensive purposes, given the Chinese Communist Party’s tightening grip on the country and its attempts to change international institutions to fit its purposes.
“We need more young people to learn and we need government officials and think tanks to get more interested to learn about China, but I would say, mainly about the Communist Party of China, because the government now, for all practical purposes, is the same as the Communist Party.”
He said what was missing from Mr. Barton’s speech to the business audience was a warning. Companies doing business in China should know they risk being victimized by espionage and theft, he said. They face the prospect of being entangled in supply chains tainted with forced labour.
“There is still good business to do in China but diversify your markets because you could be in for a surprise if China invades Taiwan,” Mr. Saint-Jacques said.
David Mulroney, another former Canadian ambassador to China who spent 30 years in the foreign service, said it appears Mr. Barton was tailoring his remarks for a business audience. Still, he said, business leaders are not blind to Mr. Xi’s increasingly autocratic control over China’s economy even as it copes with a real estate crisis, significant youth unemployment and weak demand.
“Mr. Barton’s CEO colleagues, themselves formerly fans of China’s paramount leader, have been chastened by growing evidence that Xi is mismanaging the Chinese economy and, through his global assertiveness, leaving China increasingly isolated.”
Mr. Barton was a key figure in securing the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor – on what Ottawa called spurious charges. Before becoming Canada’s top diplomat to Beijing, he was also effusive in his praise toward China as the global managing partner of consulting firm McKinsey.
“I’m a bull on China,” he told the Council on Foreign Relations in 2016, adding: “I probably drank the Kool-Aid there for too long.”
Mr. Barton’s comments this week suggest he has emerged from his time as ambassador with a continued affection for the country.
“This may seem odd for a British company to start extolling the virtues of innovation in China. But I want to,” he said, describing robot-run factories that operate in the dark, artificial intelligence-backed tools for discovering new pharmaceuticals and the major global role for Chinese companies in shipbuilding and the manufacture of solar cells, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles.
Rio Tinto has built a considerable reliance on China, a country that accounted for 57 per cent of the company’s global revenues in 2021 and has become an important part of its corporate function. In 2022, Rio Tinto opened a China Technology and Innovation Centre in Beijing, which the company said would help it “harness China’s leading expertise in research, technology and innovation to help solve some of our operational and business challenges.”
Mr. Barton described China’s outsized role in filing for patents and installing renewable energy capacity – although he left unmentioned that China remains reliant on coal for the overwhelming majority of its electricity, with authorities responding to recent heat waves by permitting huge quantities of new coal-fired capacity.
“For a company like Rio Tinto, which relies [on] and requires engineers, China’s become an important source of talent as we grow,” Mr. Barton said. He added: “It’s important that we all learn and understand what is happening on each side.”
Former diplomat Gordon Houlden, whose foreign service career included postings in Beijing and Hong Kong, said he shares a concern about the falling number of Canadians studying in China – where they might gain a better insight into the world’s second-largest economy. Today, he estimated, the number is in the hundreds instead of thousands. He noted China is producing roughly eight times as many science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates as the United States.
“You can always understand your potential adversary better than you do now,” Mr. Houlden said.
