I don`t want to seem alarmist, but the following article was in today`s Edmonton Journal,
China's rise means Canada should beware: historian
East will be after West's rich resources - us
By Chris Cobb, Ottawa Citizen; Postmedia News November 12, 2011
China will attempt to drive an economic and political wedge between Canada and the United States as it moves for a greater stake in this country's natural resources, celebrity historian and author Niall Ferguson said Friday.
"It wouldn't be China if it wasn't looking for a chance to detach Canada from its big southern neighbour and to exploit the resentment many Canadians feel about the United States," said Ferguson.
"There will be more friction between China and the U.S. in the next 10 or 15 years and Canada will find itself in the middle if that becomes a rather fraught relationship," he added.
"Imagine if either the United States or China said to Canada, 'You have to choose.'"
In Ottawa to appear at the Writers Festival and to promote his new book Civilization: The West and the Rest, the Scottish-born Harvard professor told the Ottawa Citizen editorial board that China's lust for Canadian resources should not be difficult for the federal government to rebuff.
"It seems to me unnecessary because Canada doesn't have a major fiscal problem," he said. "It's not as though Canada needs to sell its assets, so I don't see the need for a major realignment of its position as the United States' little brother."
On a recent visit to Australia, Ferguson recalled remarking to an Australian acquaintance: "You realize you're gradually becoming a Chinese colony? He said, 'No mate, it's more like a semi-autonomous republic.' It's a good place to start (when discussing Canada-China relations)."
"I don't think China makes a massive distinction between Australia and Canada," said Ferguson.
"These are thinly populated (nations) with huge quantities of resources that China needs. The question (for China) is: How best to access those? Do you do it by straight forward purchases on the open market or do you want to own them? And if you own them, how far can you go before there is a political backlash. This is what China is asking about a lot of countries."
Canada and other western nations should consider China a "threatening state," he said.
"Look behind the facade," he said. "It looks westernized - you see Kentucky Fried Chicken signs practically the moment you get off the plane. It looks a lot like they're westernized - more than Japan actually - but behind the facade is a one-party state where the power of the state is pretty much sacrosanct and individual freedom is circumscribed in a way we would find intolerable"
Signs of increasing friction between the United States and China are clear, added Ferguson.
As the Canadian-Chinese economic relationship intensifies, Canada should be on its guard, added the historian.
"The idea of a world where China is calling the shots and has achieved at least parity with the U.S. is not one we should celebrate: 'This is great, Uncle Sam has met his match' isn't the right reaction. We need not only understand China's strengths, we have to recognize its weaknesses."
Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/todays-paper/China+rise+means+Canada+should+beware+historian/5700562/story.html
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