By Philip Yeung
Don't be Trudeau-dumb. Advice to the new Canadian leader
Out with the old, in with the new:
Canada has a new leader. Out goes Trudeau, a former barroom bouncer. In comes Mark Carney, the former central bank governor. This leadership transition takes place in the thick of a nasty tariff war between Canada and the US. Canadians are relieved that the bumbling and stumbling era is coming to an end.
But Trudeau has another poisoned arrow up his sleeve. With his parting shot, he is inflicting more pain on his country.
Trudeau is dumber than Donald Trump:
Before stepping down, he called Trump "dumb" for imposing tariffs on its next-door neighbor. But guess what? No one can out-dumb Trudeau because what he does next is an act of active sabotage that hurts everyone and helps no one.
After calling out Trump, Trudeau immediately turns around and does something double in dumbness: He slaps heavy levies on Chinese goods, as high as 100%, provoking a swift retaliation from China. This is a radical departure from Canada's espousal of free trade. With Trudeau's provocative tariffs, the country enters uncharted territory. He has caught the Trump virus, talking free trade from one side of his mouth, and trade war from the other. He picks a fight and hits China below the belt. That is the height of hypocrisy. This is stratospheric stupidity.
Can't he see that weaponizing tariffs has sent stocks nose-diving? He doesn't seem to care that a global recession is on the horizon.
Why is Trudeau aping Trump?
Why, then, was Trudeau aping Trump? He did it out of personal spite, pure and simple. This is a personal vendetta. You will remember that Trudeau foolishly became a Trump surrogate by executing an unjust arrest warrant against the CFO of China's Huawei, a warrant no country would touch with a ten-foot pole. The China-Canada bilateral relations have never recovered. What a bitter irony! It was his father Pierre Trudeau who ushered in the full flowering of friendship between the two countries. With a single stroke, he killed the romance. He has defied the adage: what the father has put together, let no son put asunder.
Is Trudeau on a personal vendetta?
Trudeau Jr. is not only clueless but also spineless, kowtowing to Trump left and right. He ended up being publicly scolded by the Chinese leader for breaching the confidentiality of dialogue between the two leaders. Out of spite, he has imposed massive tariffs on China, unprovoked, leaving his Cabinet members dumbstruck with three of them publicly disowning his senseless policy.
The new leader must break the Trudeau curse and not be sucked into his silly juvenile game of tit-for-tat. A trade war with China when Canada is scrambling to fend off Trump attacks is the height of stupidity. Now we know that there is nothing between his ears. He has out-dumbed Trump!
China is not a dirty word. It has kept its nose clean, its head clear and itself conflict-free for half a century, creating the world's biggest economic miracle.
Canada's new leader should go see China at the first opportunity. The country is tech-crazy and a monster at infrastructure-building. Befriending China makes the most strategic sense, giving Canada leverage against an unpredictable American bully. The China threat and the China containment are an American concoction, as the two countries have no real quarrels. The tensions between them were caused by Trudeau's policy missteps. Canada should steer clear of big-power rivalry. Blindly doing American bidding and swallowing American falsehoods about China runs counter to Canadian interests. If you demonize peaceful China, you debase Canadian values.
Trump is breathing down Canada's neck, disorienting Canadians with his on-again, off-again tariffs threat. Trudeau, shockingly, has opened a second front on the tariff war. Trudeau talks up his legacy. I only see a legacy of senseless negativity and utter stupidity.
Canada stands for fair trade. It has no business getting embroiled in a trade war.
For the first time in its history, Canadians have a powerful reason to unite against a common enemy who wants to annex their country. Why dilute this unity with an unwarranted hostility towards China? Trudeau may be Hollywood-handsome, but he is not Wall Street-smart.
Canada is finally getting rid of a mentally challenged leader who has brought nothing but misery to his people. Let's hope Trudeau's stupidity is not infectious. At a time when Canada is betrayed by its closest ally, it needs all the friends it can get. In China's case, all it takes is a dose of common sense. We count on the economically literate federal banker to bring the country back to sanity. Let Trump and his ilk play their game. They are sure to make America dumb again.
Read more articles by Philip Yeung:
Opinion | Three hot issues in a cooling economy for Two Sessions
Opinion | The show is all Trump, all the time
Opinion | Diplomacy, Trump style
Opinion | Australia, you are barking up the wrong tree—China is not your enemy
Opinion | How to tame Trump—make it messy, lengthy and sleepy
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