Canada-China Relations committee  I think it was Phil Calvert, a former colleague of mine, who said in his testimony that in the case of Taiwan we should try to further develop our relationship. I agree with that. In fact, there is the rule of law in Taiwan, and we should look at ways to support the very clear result that came out of the elections in January and say that we support democracy and that no pressure should be put on Taiwan.

Canada-China Relations committee  It is linked to how Canada is perceived in China. In this case, it's clear that the issue of Mrs. Meng is coordinated in the office of President Xi Jinping. Therefore, now that he has absolute power and absolute authority, it's difficult for anyone to criticize him, but I've heard from various sources that some people who like Canada and appreciate what we have done in the past and know the potential for future collaboration are a bit dismayed at the status....

Canada-China Relations committee  If we adopt a laissez-faire attitude and let ourselves be stepped on, you end up as roadkill.

Canada-China Relations committee  This is an extremely difficult situation. The previous government faced the same difficulty in the cases of Kevin and Julia Garratt and Huseyin Celil, who is still being held in Urumqi, Xinjiang. These issues are very difficult and require a consistent and coherent approach and repeating the same messages.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think we need to react. We now have a $51-billion trade deficit with China. That worries me. Why don't we do more extensive inspections, for example, to make sure that children's toys coming into Canada do not contain lead paint? In addition, 70% of the apple juice and 60% of the frozen fish in Canada comes from China.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, in fact there are more efforts being made now to sensitize, especially academics, regarding some aspects of collaborating with China. When I was ambassador, I recall discussing with some academics. They were working on projects that were getting close to the commercial phase.

Canada-China Relations committee  You'll understand that there's a great diversity of views on this issue. I think we need to pay special attention to security issues, because these are fundamental issues for our future prosperity. I know there are many Canadian companies that have unfortunately had their technology stolen.

Canada-China Relations committee  There are ways.... I would distinguish what you can do here, because we now see more and more instances of interference where we need to push back. I don't think we have been very good at reminding the Chinese of everything that Canada has done, especially through the $1-billion aid program that was terminated in 2013, which helped to create the dairy industry and improve the pork industry.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, I'm not aware of cases where a local school would have received money from a Chinese entity. This being said, I think that many schools and universities are struggling with, for instance, the Confucius Institute, because they don't have the resources to offer Mandarin training.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, there could be extraterritorial applications. That's what we should be concerned about. In fact—and I've listened to some of the comments of Ren Zhengfei, the CEO of Huawei—no Chinese company can refuse a request from the Chinese government to provide information. We know that Alibaba, Tencent and JD.com are providing all the information to the Chinese government to put in place the social credit system.

Canada-China Relations committee  I would say that consular issues kept me up at night as well. When I was the ambassador, we had two Canadians who were executed on drug charges despite all the pleas that Prime Minister Harper wrote to Xi Jinping the day before one was going to be executed, to no avail, and Governor General Johnston had raised this.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, I didn't go that far. I just said that in every aspect we should base our approach on reciprocity. By reciprocity.... You had Dominic Barton here. He has very limited access, as do the staff of the embassy. Well, then, why should we trot to the Chinese residence to have a good Chinese meal for lunch or dinner?

Canada-China Relations committee  I would say that we have to be clear on where we want to go and base our approach on reciprocity.

Canada-China Relations committee  Well, on this I would say we are in charge. This is our country. These are our laws, our regulations. We welcome foreign investment, but people have to comply. On that, this should be consistent for all companies. You are welcome to invest in Canada, but we won't tolerate any attempts to circumvent rules or anything like this.

Canada-China Relations committee  If I may add, you were told by a previous witness that the total amount of Chinese investment in Canada is about $16.7 billion. Well, the actual number is $90 billion. The China Institute of the University of Alberta has done a thorough review, which changed the picture: $90 billion is quite different from $16 billion.