If I could just respond to Mr. Harris, I think he may not have heard me correctly. What I said was that I thought that our multi-year, multi-million dollar campaign for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council wasn't the best use of or the best priority for Canadian diplomacy, and I don't withdraw that.
Working in Taiwan and running our office there was one of the most inspiring experiences of my diplomatic career. Let's just note here that this week we're mourning the passing of Lee Teng-hui, who was really the father of democracy in Taiwan.
I got to meet and see lots of people. I was there when Kuomintang was defeated and the Democratic Progressive Party came to power. It was a very inspiring time and it was impossible not to feel excited.
I also recognize that there are some things.... We have to be careful in terms of how we support Taiwan, because there are some things that would—even though it's inhuman to think about this—provoke China to attack Taiwan. There are red lines that we need to observe.
The reality, though, is that Canada is nowhere near any of those red lines. We're entirely passive in our approach to Taipei. With a little creativity, we could be supporting one of the great democratic success stories, and one with some really interesting links to Canadian history—think of the story of Dr. George Leslie Mackay, who was a hero in Taiwan. It was an inspiring time.
I would add that one of the lessons we should take from Hong Kong is that Hong Kong is where it is now because, for two decades, Hong Kong's elite sold it out, and the countries that should have supported it didn't support it sufficiently. We were one of those countries.
The next focus will be Taiwan. This is the time to be supporting Taiwan thoughtfully.