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Nilgiri

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Wow based Canada

Watch next year, I was saying to few ppl earlier in year that there will be consequences on the rotten behaviour of PRC w.r.t its human right violations at the scale being done brazenly now and also its continued IPR theft and militarized network for that....then corona came and even average joe isn't left to be alone by this regime's clear inaction and dawdling on it (maybe even on purpose).

People here are more and more fed up with Chinese regime....politicians here in Canada will respond to this sentiment increasingly over time.
 

Gary

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Watch next year, I was saying to few ppl earlier in year that there will be consequences on the rotten behaviour of PRC w.r.t its human right violations at the scale being done brazenly now and also its continued IPR theft and militarized network for that....then corona came and even average joe isn't left to be alone by this regime's clear inaction and dawdling on it (maybe even on purpose).

People here are more and more fed up with Chinese regime....politicians here in Canada will respond to this sentiment increasingly over time.
Australia need to do the same, chinese infiltration on campuses is very obvious if you read the case of Drew Pavlou getting kicked out of UQ just for standing up for HK.

 

Gary

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China is just NK but with significant tech sector and sassy propaganda, inside it's all about cult. I see no difference between how they try to portray Xi and that if KJU.

These peoples couldn't be entrusted with running global affairs.
 

Nilgiri

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Nilgiri

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The crew of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter was surprised this summer to find the Chinese and Russian navies conducting a joint exercise in open water in the Arctic Ocean.

Details about what was apparently a serendipitous discovery of the Chinese and Russian vessels by the U.S. Coast Guard were sparse.

Until this chance encounter near the top of the world, Western countries with an interest in the Far North, such as Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, the United Kingdom, France and the United States, were unaware of what was going on, a former commandant of the coast guard told a recent virtual conference hosted by the Defense News.


The intelligence lapse was telling. The U.S. and its allies, including Canada, are doing more in Arctic waters in response to global warming and Russian and Chinese military activities and shipping there.

Despite underwater monitoring systems, as the U.S. Coast Guard found out, potential enemies are probably doing a lot more there than is generally known. A major shortcoming, according to Defense News, is that satellites tend to be oriented toward more target-rich environments that are a lot farther south.

American and British submarines, and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which has naturally been more concerned with the air domain, have been building up their ability to monitor the northern, western and eastern approaches to the continent. What is lacking is a common western strategy to defend the Arctic or the fantastic oil, gas, mineral and fisheries reserves that lie within or near Canadian, American and Greenlandic territory up there.



Canada’s approach has been typical. During the five years that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been in power, there has been almost no talk about doing anything in Canada’s north, let alone consideration of an Arctic strategy, either with the military or in concert with the Inuit.

Were Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole to become prime minister, he has said that he would make building up Canadian defences in the north a priority. The stumbling block for any government is that building and maintaining anything in the Arctic is hugely expensive and the national debt has been growing by the minute this year.

Any attention from the politicians would be greatly appreciated by the tiny band of Canadian academics and even smaller group of journalists who take this issue seriously. For Canadians, it should be as much a question of sovereignty (use it or lose it) as of devising a policy to protect it or exert control over the vast, fragile environment.

READ MORE: (Aug. 22, 2019) The U.S. isn’t the only country interested in Greenland. Here’s who else has a stake

Politicians are not the only ones to blame for this historic lack of interest in the Canadian Arctic. They take their cue from Canadians, including educators, who often claim a great sentimental attachment to the north but have never pressed their governments to do anything about it.

There are glimmers of hope. The Canadian Coast Guard is in the High Arctic every summer and fall. The Canadian Armed Forces has been testing unmanned sensors and underwater microphones. The Royal Canadian Navy has operated in Baffin Bay and the Beaufort Sea in recent years, sailing with the Canadian and U.S. coast guards and European and American warships. Canada’s navy, air force and army participated in a major NATO land, sea and air exercise two years ago in Norway.

The RCAF has been busy nearer home this summer, dispatching CF-18 Hornets to intercept Russian strategic bombers, fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft escorting top-of-the-line U.S. air force bombers on long exercises across the Canadian North.

Ordered 13 years ago by the government of former prime minister Stephen Harper, the Royal Canadian Navy now has two of its eight De Wolfe class Arctic patrol vessels in the water. While the RCN is happy to have anything new after decades of government neglect, the De Wolfe class ships have limited ice-breaking capability and cannot operate in the High Arctic during the winter.


The least expensive way for Canada to get a better grip on what Russia and China are doing in and near its territory is to have much better intelligence from satellites and relatively inexpensive surface and underwater monitoring systems. The best way to monitor the polar region is with under-ice capable submarines, though each one will cost close to $1 billion.

If Canada is serious about its Arctic interests, it needs to finally deliver its long-discussed new icebreakers, which cost nearly $800 million each. As for subs, recent technological breakthroughs by the Japanese have produced batteries that make it possible for the first time for non-nuclear submarines to operate under the ice cap for many weeks at a time.

Russia has about 40 old icebreakers and is building a fleet of at least 13 modern Polar Star icebreakers designed to cut through as much as three metres of ice. After several years of technical glitches, the biggest icebreaker ever built finally left St. Petersburg a few days ago to begin its first Arctic mission.

READ MORE: China, Russia are meddling in Canadian politics and society, warns security watchdog

President Vladimir Putin has been pouring resources into Russia’s north. It has 13 military airfields, top-of-the-line anti-aircraft missile batteries up there, and has been sending a new generation of submarines to its Northern Fleet. Thousands of combat troops have been posted to new or refurbished Cold War-era bases along the Arctic coast or on Arctic islands. Though it has been hard to figure out why, Moscow has even put tanks above the Arctic Circle.

China, which has declared itself “a near Arctic state,” is a new factor. Beijing has two medium-strength icebreakers, is building the first of a new class of much more powerful icebreakers, and, ominously, has said it regards the north as an area for all countries to exploit.

The clock is ticking. If Canada wishes to have any influence over what happens on its northern border, Ottawa and its allies will have to prioritize developing an Arctic defence strategy and spend a lot of money. Otherwise, it will be another easy victory for Russia and China.

Matthew Fisher is an international affairs columnist and foreign correspondent who has worked abroad for 35 years. You can follow him on Twitter at @mfisheroverseas
 

Nilgiri

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Nobody is laughing much about China these days in Taiwan. Beijing regards the democratic island state as a renegade province and has vowed to use force, if necessary, to bring it under Beijing’s despotic rule.

So, it was a welcome change to read about the mirth that spread in Taiwan this week after photographs appeared there of billionaire heiress Meng Wanzhou wearing a surgical mask that clearly bore the words “Made in Taiwan” when she appeared at an extradition hearing in Vancouver. Anything carrying the words “Made in Taiwan” would be strictly banned in China today.


Meng, whose father founded the quasi-state telecom giant Huawei, is at the centre of a notorious diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Ottawa. A Canadian court is considering whether to accede to a U.S. demand to extradite Meng to the U.S. to face serious fraud and conspiracy charges.

China retaliated against Meng’s detention by kidnapping Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and imposing trade sanctions on some Canadian agricultural products. The Two Michaels have now been held under dire conditions in a Beijing jail for more than 660 days.

Although the Meng case is a long way from being resolved, China continues to push its luck with Canada. State media there declared this week that the country’s first home-built icebreaker, the Xue Long 2 (Snow Dragon), returned to Shanghai a few days ago. It has been on an epic journey from Antarctica to the Canada Basin and Beaufort Shelf, which are near the Canadian towns of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

Although Ottawa must have known about the presence of the Xue Long 2, which was surveying the sea bed adjacent to Canadian waters, the Trudeau government chose to not say anything about it publicly. However, the U.S. Coast Guard has spoken of a joint China-Russia maritime exercise that was conducted this summer in the Arctic Ocean.

(more at link)
 

TR_123456

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A sapper works next to an unexploded BM-30 Smerch rocket allegedly fired by Armenian forces in the fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Oct. 5, 2020.


The Turkish government is accusing Canada of practicing a “double standard” in freezing exports of military-grade target acquisition gear to the Turks while continuing to allow shipments of defence equipment to Saudi Arabia.


Ankara is also alleging that Canada is failing in its duty to help a fellow member of the NATO military alliance.


Turkey was responding to the Canadian government’s announcement that it was suspending permits enabling the export of made-in-Canada targeting and imaging systems that is at the centre of allegations that Azerbaijan is using Turkish-made drones to attack Armenia.


The statement from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Affairs Tuesday did not identify Saudi Arabia by name but the Saudis are the lead country behind a military intervention into Yemen and Canada is supplying billions of dollars of light armoured vehicles (LAVs) to Riyadh under a contract brokered by a federal Crown corporation and worth $14-billion. Canadian-made LAVs have been repeatedly spotted in skirmishes with Yemen’s Houthi rebels.


“Canada’s statement regarding the suspension of the export licenses of some military products to Turkey is an indication of its double-standard approach,” the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement provided to the Globe and Mail by the Turkish embassy in Canada.




“Canada sees no objection in exporting weapons to countries that are militarily involved in the crisis in Yemen, where one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies of this century is taking place.”


The permits suspended by Canada this week are for target acquisition devices earmarked for Turkey. Observers have expressed concern that they have been been diverted to Azerbaijan, a staunch ally of Ankara’s.


As the Globe and Mail reported last week, the department of Global Affairs' export controls division in May 2020 issued permits enabling Burlington, Ont.-based L3Harris Wescam to ship seven MX-15D imaging and targeting systems to Turkish drone maker Baykar. The devices are valued at more than $1-million each.

Canada and Turkey are both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance.

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday also accused Canada of failing in its duty to a fellow NATO member.





It questioned why Canada blocks arms shipments to Turkey, a NATO ally, but continues to export arms to Saudi Arabia even after a United Nations panel of experts alleged that sales of arms are fuelling the Yemen conflict.

“Canada is blocking the export of defense products to a NATO ally, while trying to portray these [Saudi] arms sales, which have even been criticized in reports prepared by UN experts, as a contribution to regional security. There can be no explanation for such a position.”

Canada initially slapped an embargo on new export permits for arms to Turkey in October, 2019, after a military incursion by Ankara into northern Syria. The approval of export permits this May for the targeting device appears to be an exception to this embargo.

Turkey registered its strong disapproval of Canada’s efforts to restrict arms sales to the Turks.

“Canada has been impeding export licenses of military materials for Turkey … and has displayed an unco-operative attitude incompatible with the spirit of alliance,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in the statement. It added that Turkey “has a comprehensive export control regime and rigorously implements its obligations” under these rules.

“Our expectation from Canada is to refrain from double standards and to act without being influenced and getting trapped by the narrow political interests of anti-Turkey circles in the country.”



Suspending arms export permits – as Mr. Champagne did this week – is very rare for the Canadian government. In recent years, Canada has enacted moratoriums on approval of new export permits - for destinations such as Saudi Arabia - but it has not frozen already-issued permits.

The move follows intensified fighting on the weekend in Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountain enclave that belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.

Mr. Champagne’s announcement came six days after Ottawa announced it was investigating allegations that Canadian-made imaging and targeting systems were being used in drones operated on behalf of the Azerbaijani military to attack Armenia in the growing conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Monday’s permit suspension could cause problems for Wescam shipments - even for target acquisition gear already shipped to Turkey.

That’s because the permits contain provisions allowing at least some of the devices to be sent to Canada for repairs and then re-exported, according to a source familiar with the matter.

These systems can’t be re-exported after repair if the underlying permit is suspended. The Globe is not naming the source because they are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.



Arms researchers and Armenian Canadians have said they believe Azerbaijan is using Turkish-made drones that include Wescam gear in military operations against Armenia. Footage of missile strikes by the Azerbaijani military posted on the internet contain a graphical overlay on the video that bears a very strong resemblance to the proprietary graphical overlays of systems manufactured by L3Harris Wescam.

Ottawa is required under Canadian law and under the international Arms Trade Treaty to prevent, detect and stop the diversion of military goods to users other than intended customers. It’s also compelled to stop exports of such restricted goods that are shown to be used to harm civilians.

Wescam – owned by U.S. parent, L3Harris Technologies – makes imaging and targeting systems containing laser designators to paint targets for laser-guided bombs launched by drones or fighter aircraft. The company’s technology has been used in drones operated by Turkey’s military, including aircraft made by Turkish firm Baykar. In June and July, widespread media reports indicated Turkey was selling drones to Azerbaijan.





 
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Sinan

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Well, instead of always blaming West we should sometimes look onto ourselves. Our diplomacy is in ruins, our capable diplomats have been changed with very incapable people like Merve Kavakçı and Egemen Bağış. These people doing some serious damage to our state.

Mean while government thinks that it can use it's state television to reach out to world. Not to mention reputation of government officials.
 

Ryder

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Human rights is just a smokescreen.

Imagien complaining about human rights when it comes to the arms industry.
 

Ryder

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Well, instead of always blaming West we should sometimes look onto ourselves. Our diplomacy is in ruins, our capable diplomats have been changed with very incapable people like Merve Kavakçı and Egemen Bağış. These people doing some serious damage to our state.

Mean while government thinks that it can use it's state television to reach out to world. Not to mention reputation of government officials.

Not just diplomacy its lobbying. Us Turks not rich to be honest if so we would have every politician on our pocket.

Look at this the Jews, Gulf Arabs, Armenians and Greeks do a lot of lobbying due to money thats how they get lots of politicians in there pocket.
 
Y

Yoyo

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You know me,im mad all day. :mad: :mad: :mad:
Canada has a very prominent Greek and Armenian diaspora. Honestly, I'm surprised we've been able to get drone cameras from them in the first place. That said, maybe the Canadians are just trying to save face because they know we're about to switch over to our own domestic cameras.
 
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Sinan

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Not just diplomacy its lobbying. Us Turks not rich to be honest if so we would have every politician on our pocket.

Look at this the Jews, Gulf Arabs, Armenians and Greeks do a lot of lobbying due to money thats how they get lots of politicians in there pocket.
We used to use Jewish lobby for our cause when we had good relations with Israel. Now, they are lobbying against us. Bad foreign relations, bad diplomacy.

Diplomacy is at a very bad level that on a issue like East-Mediterranean Turkish Government can't explain our rightful case.
 

Ryder

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Canada has a very prominent Greek and Armenian diaspora. Honestly, I'm surprised we've been able to get drone cameras from them in the first place. That said, maybe the Canadians are just trying to save face because they know we're about to switch over to our own domestic cameras.

West arms industry is like this. You gotta play to our interests if not we will cut your weapon supply.

If your nation is dependant on another country for defence that means you are not independant.
 

Ryder

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We used to use Jewish lobby for our cause when we had good relations with Israel. Now, they are lobbying against us. Bad foreign relations, bad diplomacy.

Diplomacy is at a very bad level that on a issue like East-Mediterranean Turkish Government can't explain our rightful case.

We sacrificed it all for the Ummah unfortunately.
 

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