Canadian Tory politician said ‘Liberals are smarter’ because they are soft on China
Joe Li (李国贤) has joined Senator Oh’s call to raise funds to sue reporters who investigate CCP interference.
A Canadian politician with great influence in the Chinese Conservative community openly praised the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) because the Liberals are soft on China.
Joe Li (李国贤), Regional Councillor of Markham & York Region, made this statement during a news conference on August 2, 2023, in Toronto organized by the Chinese Canadian Conservative Association (CCCA, 加拿大华人保守党协会), according to a video clip posted on the Youtube channel “TorontoTV”.
At the conference, the CCCA announced that it would hold a grand gala to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its establishment. The gala is scheduled on Sept.1, 6:30~10:30 PM in the Premiere Ballroom & Convention Centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
After the announcement, Li, as a senior member and spokesperson of the Association, sat at the podium with five other CCCA executives to answer questions from the crowd.
A Mandarin-speaking person asked, “In the past few federal elections, the Conservative Party underwent huge losses. Almost all the Chinese candidates were defeated. Have the CCCA members reflected on this? Do you have any ideas or aspirations?”
Li answered the question by taking the riding he lives in, Markham-Unionville, as an example. 65% of the population in Markham-Unionville are of Chinese ethnicity and it had been a Conservative stronghold for a long time. But in the 2021 federal election, the Conservatives lost that riding to the Liberals.
The Liberal candidate in that riding was Paul Chiang (蒋振宇), a Chinese Canadian and retired police officer.
Li said there are three reasons for the Conservative’s loss. Firstly, the Conservative MP seeking re-election didn’t do his work well. Secondly, Canada-China relations had problems during that period of time, which resulted in many people refusing to vote. Thirdly, the Conservatives focused too much on foreign affairs and forgot to focus on people’s livelihoods.
Li said, “(2:24) The Liberals are smarter. Okay? They chose a Chinese candidate. And the timing is very good. Why? The thing is…. many people who didn’t plan to support the Liberals suddenly decided to vote for him (Paul Chiang) because he has a similar background to them.”
Paul Chiang was born in Pakistan and moved to Canada 40+ years ago. He never lived in mainland China, but he has Chinese ancestry and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka (客家话). Hakka is a dialect of the Chinese language spoken by a group of people originally from central and southeast China. Chiang’s family and Joe Li’s family are both Hakkas (客家人).
Joe Li suggests Canada shouldn’t follow the U.S.’s tough policy on China even when China breaks international law
People would think Li was simply endorsing Chinese voting Chinese candidates because he valued his Chinese roots more than partisan goals.
Until people learn what he said in the next part of his speech.
Li said,
“What’s the top priority for a politician? It’s improving people’s livelihood. As long as people have a good living, you can do whatever you do. A good job, a decent income and the ability to afford a house. This is what we should do. It’s unnecessary for us to mind the things in the outside world.
Although I’m Conservative, I like Jean Chrétienn, a Liberal former PM. When the U.S. asked Canada to send troops to Afghanistan, Chrétienn said sorry I can’t do that. It’s unreasonable for our Canadian soldiers to die (for the U.S.). This is the same as the daddy of Justin Trudeau. The U.S. was not happy with Trudeau Sr. establishing diplomatic relations with China and Cuba. Trudeau Sr. said, none of your business! Canada is an independent country and we can decide on our foreign policy by ourselves.
But the Conservative Party is awful at this. It follows the suit of the U.S. all the time. This is a problem.
But the Liberal Party today is also getting worse. It does whatever the U.S. tells it to do. Last month, it sent Canadian Navy warships to sail through the Taiwan Strait with the U.S. fleet. Why did Canada's warship go to a place so far away? This is a sensitive topic. It’s not convenient for me to talk. Anyway, the most important thing is, we hope our Party comes back.
As long as our Conservative Party comes back to focus on people’s livelihood, I believe we will become the ruling party again.”
Key takeaways from Li’s speech:
It is right to be soft on China and wrong to be tough on China. No matter if you are Liberals or Conservatives, Canada or U.S., this rule applies to all.
When China breaks international law (such as trying to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait), Canada should not stand up to China. When the U.S. stands up to China, Canada should not follow the U.S.
Making money is more important than sticking to international law in politics.
Joe Li joined Sen. Oh to urge Chinese Canadians to raise funds to sue journalists reporting on CCP interference
It is not the first time that Li criticized the Conservative Party or anyone for being harsh on China.
In October 2021, shortly after the 2021 federal election, Li, along with other senior members at the CCCA, held a news conference urging O'Toole to resign as Conservative leader, saying their tough-on-China platform alienated voters.
At a community event in May 2023 in Toronto, Li encouraged as many as possible Chinese Canadians to attend the June 24 Parliament Hill rally to speak up against anti-Chinese racism. In the speech, he also expressed his opinion that Canada should not follow the U.S. on China-related issues. He referred to the Huawei CFO to be “Our Meng Wanzhou”.
Li previously claimed that it was Canada that triggered the diplomatic feud that resulted in Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig being imprisoned for almost three years – by arresting Meng Wanzhou according to a clause in an international treaty between the U.S. and Canada.
At the May 2023 event, Li expressed his anger about his cousin, Liberal MP Chaun Chen (陈圣源), because Chen didn’t speak up for the Chinese community amidst numerous media reports on CCP interference. In the next month on June 24, Chen was seen attending the Parliament Hill rally and delivered an anti-racism speech.
In an event organized by the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO) in late June, Li called on the Chinese Canadians to support Senator Victor Oh’s foundation and donate money to sue reporters reporting on CCP interference. He said, “If we don’t donate this money, we Chinese, Chinese politicians will forever be smeared by those reporters. Today their target may be [Markham] deputy mayor Michael Chan. Tomorrow it will be me.”
CCCA and the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).
The CCCA is not affiliated with the Conservative Party of Canada. But as a well-established NGO with 40 years of history and 1000+ members nationwide, it could influence the Party and the election in some way.
After the Conservatives lost the 2021 election and O'Toole resigned as party leader, the Conservatives were reported to have softened their China stance and drastically reduced their criticism towards China’s human rights abuses, as part of an effort to adjust their outreach strategy to the Chinese community.
Joe Li ran three times as a Conservative candidate in Canadian federal elections but lost all of them before he changed track to municipal politics.
According to a speech he gave in May 2023, he is considering running in the federal election so that there will be someone in Ottawa to speak for the Chinese people.
The CCCA will invite Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, former leader Stephen Harper, former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and officials from all three levels of government to their 40th-anniversary gala on Sept. 1.
Will Poilievre and other Conservative elites accept the invitation and Joe Li’s advice regarding China?