Chinese Military,Political and Social Superthread

[daftandbarmy]

Norman Bethune has been trotted out as a hero for decades. NOW what I read somewhere years ago - I have no idea if its true or not - he only treated Communist soldiers - and the Nationalist soldiers were left to die. I could be wrong.

"Pierre Elliot Trudeau seems to be one of those intellectuals who never seemed to accept the on-going evil of communism…only the terrible mistakes of capitalism. He never really grew up."

He knew very well what was happening - and chose that side. Curse him and I hope its really hot where he is right now.

He was a committed Communist... nuff said:



Henry Norman Bethune, surgeon, inventor, political activist (born 4 March 1890 in Gravenhurst, ON; died 12 November 1939 in Huang Shiko, China). Norman Bethune was an innovative thoracic surgeon who made significant contributions in the field, including the invention or redesign of surgical instruments. He was also an early advocate of universal health care in Canada. A member of the Communist Party, Bethune volunteered during the Spanish Civil War, where he pioneered the mobile blood transfusion unit. In 1938, he travelled to China, where he became a battlefield surgeon for Chinese Communist forces under Mao Zedong. Bethune’s commitment to the welfare of soldiers and civilians during the Sino-Japanese War made him a hero in the People's Republic of China.

Education and Medical Career​

Norman Bethune was the son of a Presbyterian minister but took up the profession of his surgeon grandfather. He interrupted his medical studies in Toronto to be a labourer-teacher at Frontier College (1911–12) and to serve in 1915 as a stretcher bearer in the First World War.
Following a stint in the Royal Navy, postgraduate training in Britain and private practice in Detroit, Michigan, he was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis in 1926. After this personal crisis, he devoted himself to other tuberculosis victims and to thoracic surgery in Montreal at the Royal Victoria Hospital and later at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur, Cartierville, Quebec.

Between 1929 and 1936 Bethune invented or redesigned 12 medical and surgical instruments and wrote 14 articles describing his innovations in thoracic technique. He became increasingly disillusioned with surgical treatment and concerned with the socioeconomic aspects of disease. Bethune challenged his profession and proposed radical reforms of medical care and health services in Canada, including a universal health care system for Canada.

Communist Hero​

After a visit to the Soviet Union in 1935, Bethune joined the Communist Party. This commitment took him to the Spanish Civil War in 1936, where he organized a mobile blood transfusion service, the first of its kind, to operate on a 1,000 km front. (See Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion.) He returned to Canada in 1937 to raise money for the antifascist cause in Spain and soon turned his attention to the war being waged by communist forces against the Japanese invaders in China. "Spain and China," he wrote, "are part of the same battle."

Bethune left Canada for the last time in 1938 to join the 8th Route Army in the Shanxi-Hobei border region. There, he was a tireless and inventive surgeon, teacher and propagandist, and he adopted the cause and the people as his own. His accidental death in 1939 from septicemia evoked Mao Zedong's essay "In Memory of Norman Bethune," which urged all communists to emulate his spirit of internationalism, his sense of responsibility and his devotion to others. One of three prescribed articles during the Cultural Revolution, the essay made Bethune's name almost synonymous with Canada in China.

Norman Bethune

Henry Norman Bethune, surgeon, inventor, political activist (born 4 March 1890 in Gravenhurst, ON; died 12 November 1939 in Huang Shiko, China). Norman Bethun...

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca

 

[JLB50]

For a long time I had assumed that the Chinese who came here were fleeing the tyranny of communism. And to be fair, most of the immigrants here hated what communism had done to their homeland and have since contributed hugely to the betterment of our society. But seeing that busload of tourists looking at Bethune’s pictures as if he were some kind of god made me wonder if those people could likely ever accept working within our system. Or if given the chance, would they do their part to eventually destroy it?

Now that China’s influence in Canada has been exposed for what it is, I just hope that the majority of Chinese-Canadians, will despite any threats (e.g. to relatives living back in the homeland) do their part to help expose anyone who is trying to subvert our government.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Impressions: Chinese people are proud of being Chinese, and come from a culture that for millennia believed itself above others (in part because for millennia it had aspects of civilization others did not). They are, roughly, at least as entrepreneurial as any other people, and more than many. Their culture has a long habit of respect, for some periods bordering on reverence, for authority. Many do not like the Chinese government as it is currently constituted.

In the long run, I expect the Party government of China to either continue to mutate away from whatever it was in the '40s, or fail. That will be due to pressure mostly from its own citizens, but also due to members of its diaspora.

 

[RangerRay]

More on some testimony to parliament last week.

On foreign interference, Canada playing ‘whack-a-mole’ to China’s chess: expert - National | Globalnews.ca

Two former CSIS officers are calling for a complete transformation of Canada’s security apparatus to counter expanding foreign interference operations.

globalnews.ca

“We are focused on China because it is the A-Team. There is no comparison [to other nations] in terms of scope,” Stanton said. “China continues to play chess while Canada plays whack-a-mole.”
Juneau Katsuya testified that he learned during a 1990s joint investigation by CSIS and RCMP, that People’s Republic of China consular officials were allegedly clandestinely funding both the Liberal and Conservative parties of Canada.

Juneau Katsuya suggested that these operations have expanded in scope and sophistication in recent years, but during the 1990s, CSIS collected strong intelligence of China’s clandestine funding of Canadian politicians, because the Chinese diplomats targeting some ridings and nominations were “very sloppy.”

“CSIS has known about People’s Republic’s foreign interference in Canada for at least the last 30 years, and every government in this period has been compromised and infiltrated by agents of influence,” testified Juneau Katusya, adding he believes “every government” allowed key decisions to be manipulated by agents of influence or partisan concerns.

 

[RangerRay]

The Line’s Dispatch on various subjects, but what they had to say about Han Dong’s potential law suit was interesting. On his podcast, Warren Kinsella and Brian Lilley were saying the same thing.

Dispatch from the Front Lines: Don't make us talk about America. No one likes that.

So, yeah, A BIT of America, but mostly Canadian stuff: a budget, technically. Alberta and CBC. Han Dong and Global. A stabbing in Vancouver. And some announcements.

theline.substack.com

Your Line editors have to admit that the threat of libel doesn't exactly fill our hearts with dread. In this, we are, perhaps, unusual. But if you're been in journalism for any length of time, your office walls will be cluttered with the trophies of desist letters and statements of claims for disgruntled subjects. Although we always stay on the right side of the law, these kinds of angry gems are inevitable.

And that's because anybody can file a libel claim. There are clear and obvious defences to such a claim, of course, but individuals with enough cash or ire are free to file as they see fit; and many do, knowing that even if the suit falls flat, the threat alone — and costs involved with the defence — can sometimes be enough to silence the critic.

Most of the time, the vast majority of libel notices die on the vine; often at the moment when the suit reaches disclosure — the stage at which both parties must hand over private correspondence to ascertain responsible journalism, or malicious intent.

We bring this up because this week, now-independent MP Han Dong filed suit against Global News and a series of its staff for stories claiming that he had met with the Chinese consul in Toronto and advised the government to delay releasing the two Michaels as doing so would benefit the Liberals.

The story, by Sam Cooper, cited two unnamed sources.

Again, we will note that anybody can file a libel claim, and there are generally strong defences in place for journalism. Innocent or not, we have some doubt that Dong will be keen for Global's lawyers to dig through his private correspondence. Disclosure goes both ways. We also think many are underestimating how broad and powerful Global’s defences would be if the matter ended up in court.

Anyone pinning their hopes for some kind of vindication for Dong — and, by extension, the Liberals on Chinese interference allegations — should settle in for a long, and probably disappointing outcome.

That said, we would like to note that we aren't all-in on the assumption that Dong has done anything nefarious.

Although we find the early talking points of Liberal supporters — ie; that CSIS mistranslated the Mandarin words for "immediate" and "delay" — to be ludicrous, the story does have some holes.

First of all, why would it benefit the Liberals for the Chinese government to continue holding the Michaels?

We also can’t entirely rule out the possibility that the spy agency did screw up the translation of whatever conversation they claim to have intercepted.

According to Dong's version of the story, the MP did speak to Chinese consul officials about the two Michaels, and failed to disclose this conversation either to his superiors at the PMO, or to Global Affairs Canada, which was working to secure the release. This alone was inappropriate, and probably ought to have gotten Dong booted from caucus — unless he wasn't actually working without the sanction of his bosses. If Dong were working as an unofficial backchannel for the government, well, then this starts to be an entirely different story altogether, doesn't it?

The Chinese interference story is messy and ongoing and we just want our readers to know that we're keeping an open mind on all angles, including the possibility of Han Dong's innocence.

 

[dimsum]

Probably something neither country wants to bring up right now:

How the Sino-Vietnamese War Was Purposefully Forgotten

In both China and Vietnam, the governments have deliberately tried to bury memories of their 1979 war.

thediplomat.com

 

[JLB50]

Probably something neither country wants to bring up right now:

How the Sino-Vietnamese War Was Purposefully Forgotten

In both China and Vietnam, the governments have deliberately tried to bury memories of their 1979 war.

thediplomat.com

Good article. It re-emphasizes how dangerous China really is. They are pretty much in conflict (if not yet at war) with just about every country within their general sphere (which includes their Nine Dash Line map). Also, let’s not forget their major skirmish/battle with USSR forces in 1979 which made the Russians seriously consider using both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons on them.

 

[OceanBonfire]

An Associated Press investigation has found that China and its U.S.-based advocates spent years building relationships in state and local governments as relations between Washington and Beijing have cooled. Those efforts have shown progress in a surprising place: Utah.

Lawmakers in the deeply conservative state have nixed resolutions that criticized China and expressed support in ways that enhanced the Chinese government’s image. U.S. officials have called the communist country's subnational influence efforts, like those in Utah, a threat to national security.

Amid strained US ties, China finds unlikely friend in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — China’s global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world’s most powerful communist country.

apnews.com

 

[torg003]

Strange. Mormons that I've met have been very anti-communist (I assumed it was part of their doctrine).

 

[JLB50]

Amid strained US ties, China finds unlikely friend in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — China’s global campaign to win friends and influence policy has blossomed in a surprising place: Utah, a deeply religious and conservative state with few obvious ties to the world’s most powerful communist country.

apnews.com

Wow, if that’s true (and it sure looks like it may be), China’s influence is even more pervasive and subversive than most Americans and Canadians would have thought possible. Mormons even. Hell hath frozen over. If film director John Frankenheimer were alive today he might say, “See, I told you so.”

 

[JLB50]

In the meanwhile…this just-released poll on how Canadians feel about the upcoming probe.

Sincere effort or ‘cover-up?’ Canadians split on interference probe intentions: poll - National | Globalnews.ca

The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found 52 per cent of those surveyed think the probes, and the appointment of a special rapporteur to oversee them, are genuine.

globalnews.ca

And is China, as a “near-Arctic nation” now beginning to get its ducks lined up? (Paywall may apply)

Ottawa bends to U.S. push to purchase strategic hangar in Arctic sought by Chinese buyer

Owner put the facility at Inuvik airport up for sale after Ottawa stopped leasing it

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[QV]

Ottawa bends to U.S. push to purchase strategic hangar in Arctic sought by Chinese buyer

Owner put the facility at Inuvik airport up for sale after Ottawa stopped leasing it

www.theglobeandmail.com

What is a sad state of affairs is that Canada has to be "pushed" by the US to do what is in our best interests security wise... otherwise we'd do stupid shit like sell a hanger to an adversary that is situated in close proximity to a NORAD base.

 

[JLB50]

What is a sad state of affairs is that Canada has to be "pushed" by the US to do what is in our best interests security wise... otherwise we'd do stupid shit like sell a hanger to an adversary that is situated in close proximity to a NORAD base.

What next? Port of Vancouver?

 

[JLB50]

This is from the House of Commons “Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development” pertaining to Arctic development back in April 2019.. It’s an interesting read and has some legitimate recommendations. But pay close attention to its mention of China (approx. page 38-39).

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FAAE/Reports/RP10411277/faaerp24/faaerp24-e.pdf

“Through the lens of national defence, Major-General Seymour framed China’s approach at present as “one of participation and co-operation” in the Arctic domain. He conveyed to the Committee that the Canadian military does not “see China as a threat within our Arctic.” Rather, they see China “as an aspirant in terms of securing access to global lines of communication and sea trade, which they're fundamentally interested in.” As Major- General Seymour explained, China is seeking “access to resources around the world,” including in the Canadian Arctic”

Here’s a quote I like: “The Government of Canada should engage with the Government of China to understand their growing interest in the Arctic”.

Kind of adds a whole new level of meaning to our stated Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged. Engaged? Is it any wonder how and why such a collective mindset of bureaucrats and politicians got us into such a mess?

 

[QV]

This is from the House of Commons “Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development” pertaining to Arctic development back in April 2019.. It’s an interesting read and has some legitimate recommendations. But pay close attention to its mention of China (approx. page 38-39).

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FAAE/Reports/RP10411277/faaerp24/faaerp24-e.pdf

“Through the lens of national defence, Major-General Seymour framed China’s approach at present as “one of participation and co-operation” in the Arctic domain. He conveyed to the Committee that the Canadian military does not “see China as a threat within our Arctic.” Rather, they see China “as an aspirant in terms of securing access to global lines of communication and sea trade, which they're fundamentally interested in.” As Major- General Seymour explained, China is seeking “access to resources around the world,” including in the Canadian Arctic”

Here’s a quote I like: “The Government of Canada should engage with the Government of China to understand their growing interest in the Arctic”.

Kind of adds a whole new level of meaning to our stated Defence Policy: Strong, Secure, Engaged. Engaged? Is it any wonder how and why such a collective mindset of bureaucrats and politicians got us into such a mess?

What a remarkably dumb statement.

 

[QV]

Anyone care to comment about what Canada's official position is on the Taiwan question? And what would Canada do if China makes a move against Taiwan?

 

[OldSolduer]

Anyone care to comment about what Canada's official position is on the Taiwan question? And what would Canada do if China makes a move against Taiwan?

Our official position is um uh well its complicated so one has to tread ummm very uh carefully.

 

[YZT580]

Anyone care to comment about what Canada's official position is on the Taiwan question? And what would Canada do if China makes a move against Taiwan?

call in the Chinese ambassador and tell him that China is officially off our Christmas card list. What else could we do with what we have.

 

[ArmyRick]

Our official position is um uh well its complicated so one has to tread ummm very uh carefully.

"Canada has always stood against hate, we um, will form a committee with a special agenda to ensure gender neutrality is respected and hate crimes are strongly discouraged in the new Taiwan."

 

[JLB50]

Anyone care to comment about what Canada's official position is on the Taiwan question? And what would Canada do if China makes a move against Taiwan?

All kidding aside, I suspect that Canada would not intervene militarily (even if the U.S. were to do so), saying that it’s basically a civil war with Taiwan attempting to secede from the motherland China. In other words, Canada would fire salvos of words but not much else.