Five reminders of why China’s government is Canada’s enemy

The virus came into existence due to the serious lack of sanitary standards in what are commonly called "wet markets," which often sell exotic animals from across the country and abroad. What makes them "wet" is that animals are butchered on the premises, with blood and liquids from those animals running across the floor. They are also the opposite of a "dry market," which typically sell gadgets, textiles, and other non-food items.

It's suspected that the virus jumped from either one of these exotic animals, from a snake, pangolin or bat before making its way to humans. The highly contagious virus has infected as many as 2,000,000 worldwide, with the number projected to climb to heights still not known. And these are only the cases that have been confirmed with a test.

The world is dealing with China's baggage in a serious way now that's impacted the lives of billions around the globe. But China has been a threat to our safety and security for much longer than the past few months in which the coronavirus has been unleashed on the world.

1. Chinese pollution harms the world

It's not uncommon for Canadians to hear about the pollution that their once-powerful fossil fuel industry generated. According to the most accurate measurements, Canada is responsible for just under 1.5 percent of the world's harmful emissions.

While Canada's emissions per capita are surely higher than China's, a country with a population of over 1.3 billion people, it's impossible to turn a blind eye at Chinese CO2 output. The authoritarian giant emits 28 percent of the world's carbon emission output, double that of the United States, who sit at second place.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has publicly stated on several occasions that it is China's aim to reduce emissions, though evidence to that is to the contrary, with the nation far and away in first place ahead of every other country.

2. Canadian political prisoners in China

Following the arrest of Chinese-tech royalty Meng Wanzhou in December of 2018, China decided that it would imprison two Canadians, now considered by many to be political prisoners.

Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor have spent over a year in solitary confinement in China.

Diplomatic relationships between China and Canada have remained tense since the incident, with China cancelling imports of Canada's canola, which economically damaged communities across the prairies.

While Korvig and Spavor remain imprisoned, Meng, the CFO of Huawei mobile, is out on bail living in a luxurious mansion in Vancouver.

China has accused the two men of spying.

Additionally, China re-tried a Canadian drug dealer in January of 2019, sentencing the man, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death.

3. They spy on us

In September of 2019, it was announced that Chinese assets had infiltrated the RCMP.

Cameron Jay Ortis, the former director general of the RCMP headquarters, was identified as a Chinese intelligence officer by the United States.

Media reports found that Ortis had been in potential communication with the Chinese since 2015.

The chief of Canada's CSIS called foreign interference in Canada "the greatest threat to our prosperity and national interest to our prosperity and national interest," having on several other occasions singling out China as a threat, calling the country the "most significant and clear" challenge, especially on Canadian university campuses.

4. They kill Canadians with fentanyl

The world is now finding ways to hold China accountable for the misdeeds that have done, especially after the deadly virus outbreak.

Before this, however, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer singled out China, saying that Canada had to hold them responsible for another devastating epidemic: the opioid crisis.

Scheer told a crowd in Quebec City that Canada needed to "hold China accountable" for the flow of illicit fentanyl, which has been the chief culprit in the deaths of thousands of Canadians in the past decade.

Fentanyl is used to cut heroin and morphine, but due to its potency, the drug only needs a very small dosage to kill a human.

A Global News investigation in 2018 found that in Canada's fentanyl epicentre, British Columbia, the fentanyl trade came directly from mainland China.

On the matter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: “China has been actually working with Canadian officials and Canadian law enforcement over the past months, to take measures on the flow of fentanyl into Canada. There is, obviously as you say, more to do, we recognize that this is a crisis that is continuing in Canada and indeed getting worse."

5. They feed us lies and influence our politicians

As the days go on in this global pandemic, it's become clear that the World Health Organization is at the very least, loyal to Chinese interests.

This has been seen on a number of occasions; whether it be a top Canadian WHO official hanging up on a Hong Kong based reporter after being asked about Taiwan, to the consistently incorrect reporting from the WHO, it's clear the organization has used their influence to put other nations behind the cue ball.

This comes with deadly consequences. When Taiwan reported to WHO on December 31 that businessmen travelling to Hubei province were returning with an unknown pneumonia spreading from person-to-person, WHO brushed it aside. Following this, WHO reported on January 14 that there was "no clear evidence" that the virus could be contracted from person-to-person.