In what will undoubtedly be an intriguing talk at a very important time in Canada-China relations, Jonathan Manthorpe will speak about Canada’s failure to construct a workable policy towards the People’s Republic of China. In particular, he will discuss, based on decades of observation, Ottawa’s failure to recognize and confront the efforts by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to infiltrate and influence Canadian politics, academia, and media, and to exert control over Canadians of Chinese heritage. Drawing on his latest book, Claws of the Panda, Jonathan will take us behind the scenes and give a detailed description of the CCP’s campaign to embed agents of influence in Canadian business, politics, media and academia. A campaign, he will argue, designed 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.

Speaker’s Biography

Jonathan Manthorpe has worked for 40 years as a foreign correspondent and international affairs commentator for Canadian newspapers. He has been based in Europe, Africa and Asia and is the author of Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan (2008). Currently, he writes weekly columns for Ottawa-based iPolitics. Jonathan has also been involved in special projects for governments and international organizations, including work for the United Nations, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank, the Canadian International Development Agency and various NGOs.