The pursuit of a “strategic partnership” with China risks Canadian sovereignty, security, and moral credibility by downplaying the CCP’s transnational repression and the enduring lessons of the 1989 massacre, warn activists.

By Probe International

In “Disremembering Tiananmen,” journalist Terry Glavin gathers four voices from Chinese, Hong Kong, Uyghur, and pro-democracy communities to reaffirm the legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre at a time when Canada, under Mark Carney, is actively pursuing closer engagement with China.

A unifying thread runs through each of the essays Glavin presents: China’s reach abroad has transcended conventional diplomacy and commerce, and now extends into transnational repression, economic coercion, political influence operations, and the intimidation of diaspora communities.

From law-enforcement partnerships and corporate entanglements to the harassment of exiles and broader human rights imperatives—each contributor illuminates a distinct facet, united by a singular conviction: democratic societies must recall Tiananmen not merely as a distant tragedy, but as a vivid and cautionary emblem of the perils inherent in trading principle for profit when engaging with authoritarian regimes.

The Authors

Democracy and human rights activist, Ivy Li, calls Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “strategic partnership” with the CCP morally wrong and dangerous. At risk, Li argues, is Canadian sovereignty, security, and diaspora communities through the RCMP-MPS Memorandum of Understanding—a bilateral police cooperation agreement between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and China’s Ministry of Public Security. The threat she defines includes transnational repression through expanded United Front Work Department infiltration via “people-to-people” ties and media, endorsement of CCP propaganda, and lending Canada’s multicultural credibility to a regime that enforces Han supremacy and minority suppression. She urges scrapping the partnership before it’s too late.

Uyghur rights advocate, Mehmet Tohti of URAP, traces China’s transnational repression from individual cases (like the 2006 abduction of Canadian Huseyin Celil) to a broad, sophisticated campaign that now targets governments, lawmakers (sanctions on MP Michael Chong), civil society, and corporations. Tohti frames the evolution of Beijing’s tactics as a continuum rather than a series of isolated incidents.

Fenella Sung of Canadian Friends of Hong Kong, links Prime Minister Carney’s “strategic partnership” (announced near the Tiananmen site) directly to the massacre’s legacy of authoritarian control. She points to Chinese laws (National Intelligence Law Article 7 and Company Law Article 18) that make all PRC companies—including joint ventures and “private” firms—extensions of the CCP, and thus obligated to assist intelligence work and host party cells. Bottom line: Canadian interests are being sacrificed for uncertain gains. Reject, says Sung.

Gabriel Yiu of Chinese Canadian Concern Group, questions whether Carney’s “economy-first” pragmatism is trading Canada’s moral values and security for Chinese market access. He underscores the shift of Tiananmen/Hong Kong vigils to Canada due to repression abroad, ongoing foreign interference issues, the slow implementation of countermeasures, and diaspora fears about exposure as a result of the Canada-China public security MOU. Yiu contrasts past “Wolf Warrior” aggression with current friendlier diplomacy amid China’s economic troubles, urging vigilance on whether Canada will defend principles like Taiwan Strait navigation or sell out for doubled exports.

Go to Terry Glavin’s Substack here to read these essays in full.