Reddit reviews Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada

This is United Front in action - China's self-described "magic weapon", a special unit of it's government working to influence Western perception.
The Financial Times had a great article on it, here.


>This has given a boost to United Front efforts to woo overseas Chinese. Even though more than 80 per cent of around 60m overseas Chinese have taken on the citizenship of more than 180 host countries, they are still regarded as fertile ground by Beijing. “The unity of Chinese at home requires the unity of the sons and daughters of Chinese abroad,” says the teaching manual.

>It recommends a number of ways in which United Front operatives should win support from overseas Chinese. Some are emotional, stressing “flesh and blood” ties to the motherland. Others are ideological, focusing on a common participation in the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese people”. But mainly they are material, providing funding or other resources to selected overseas Chinese groups and individuals deemed valuable to Beijing’s cause.


There's also a new book all about China's attempts to influence Canada, called Claws of the Panda.

[edit: quote boxes]

> is my breaking point.

Is it though? Would you actually get angry and stand up for yourself if someone came to try and disrupt the rally? Pro-HK rallies in Vancouver have been repeatedly disrupted by pro-China protesters. Demonstrators at SFU also had their wall taken down.

Organizing something like this on reddit is a likely way to have a "counter-protest" show up. The CCP actually exerts considerable influence among Chinese-Canadians and foreign exchange students (and it's not like Carleton has any lack of those). Canada's leading Chinese newspaper is indirectly controlled by the Beijing government. There's a pretty good book on the subject if you want to read more.

Point being, this sub regularly complains about issues like stress and mental health issues brought on by school, which would pale in comparison to the stress brought on by actual political activism. The HK issue is a political crisis and not really the place for slacktivism. Personally, I'd support a rally, but I'm also not the kind of person who clutches my keys between my fingers while walking to my car at night. Just some food for thought.

Claws of the Panda - Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada


\^Required, very dry, reading for all interested in our relationship/history with the Chinese government.

Remember: It's the Chinese Communist Party we're against. Not Chinese people.

> Seems like there’s a western agenda going on here.

...as if the Communist Party of China doesn't have its own agenda vis-a-vis "the west"..??

Just watched this insightful interview with foreign correspondent and author Jonathan Manthorpe, who authored “Claws of the Panda”.

Amazon review:
> Claws of the Panda tells the story of Canada’s failure to construct a workable policy towards the People’s Republic of China. In particular the book tells of Ottawa’s failure to recognize and confront the efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate and influence Canadian politics, academia, and media, and to exert control over Canadians of Chinese heritage.

> Claws of the Panda gives a detailed description of the CCP’s campaign to embed agents of influence in Canadian business, politics, media and academia. The party’s aims are to be able to turn Canadian public policy to China’s advantage, to acquire useful technology and intellectual property, to influence Canada’s international diplomacy, and, most important, to be able to monitor and intimidate Chinese Canadians and others it considers dissidents. The book traces the evolution of the Canada-China relationship over nearly 150 years.

> It shows how Canadian leaders have constantly misjudged the reality and potential of the relationship while the CCP and its agents have benefited from Canadian naivete.