Occasional News Bulletin for Thurs, May 5th
 
Canada-China Focus
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May is Asian Heritage Month!

We encourage you to check out events in your local community celebrating the culture and histories of peoples across the Asian continent, and to support Asian artists, writers, creators, businesses, and organizations. During this month we also honour the activism of people of Asian descent since the beginning of Canadian history against racism, sexism, and multiple other forms of oppression. We celebrate the wins and gains that have been made, and stand in solidarity to advance justice today.
Events this Month:
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Vancouver film screening: "Big Fight in Little Chinatown"

Tue, May 9th, 5:15 PM @ VIFF Centre - Vancity Theatre
Sun, May 14th, 3:15 PM @ The Cinematheque


Description: With the devastating economic impact of the pandemic and city redevelopment, Chinatowns in New York, Montréal and Vancouver search for innovative ways and resistance to keep their communities thriving. With lush verité footage of bustling Lunar New Year celebrations and warm social gatherings, filmmaker Karen Cho celebrates the vibrance of Chinatown communities. 

 

 

 

Toronto: "The Past and Future of Hong Kong Labour Activism"

When: Sat, May 13, 2-4pm EDT
Where: Richard Charles Lee Canada-Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto 

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-past-and-future-of-hong-kong-labour-activism-tickets-621257537017 
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Description: Christopher Siu-Tat Mung is the executive director of the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor (HKLRM), a newly established UK-based NGO. Before relocating to the UK, he worked as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) for more than 10 years, which was disbanded in 2021 under intensified political pressure. Christopher has participated in the Hong Kong independent labour movement since 1995. During his long-time commitment of union organizing, he was engaged with different important workers‘ struggles such as the Campaign for Legislation of Minimum Wage (2000–10), Bar-Benders Strike (2007) and Dock Workers Strike (2013). He has also co-authored a history book titled, 40 Years of the Hong Kong Independent Labour Movement.

 

 

 

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Vancouver Roundtable Discussion: "A Hundred Years Later: Asian Racialization and the Violence of Inclusion"

When: Monday, May 15th, 3-5pm PDT
Where: WCC 420 (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, SFU Downtown Campus, 580 W. Hastings St)
Details at: https://events.sfu.ca/event/35004-roundtable-discussion-a-hundred-years-later-asian
Description: Coinciding with the centenary this year of the (anti-) Chinese Immigration Act in Canada, roundtable participants will reflect on the contradictions of Asian racialization in the context of contemporary crises: What are the broader structural violences that have been exacerbated rather than resolved in the political shift from formal racial exclusion to inclusion in dominant settler societies? How has “inclusion” deepened forms of Asian exclusion? How do these complex dynamics operate in multiethnic and multiracial communities across North America?

 

 

 

NPSIA (Toronto): "Talking Freely: A Chinese-Canadian Conversation"

When: Wed, May 24, 5-6:30pm EDT
Where: Richcraft Hall 9376 University Drive 2nd Floor Atrium Ottawa, ON K1S
Register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/talking-freely-a-chinese-canadian-conversation-tickets-617840957937

Description: Canada is a multicultural country which celebrates diversity, and May is the Asian Heritage Month. Year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and it is important for us to learn from the past so that all Canadians can move forward together. This event is a celebration of Asian heritage, a conversation on the contributions and difficulties faced by Chinese Canadians, and a discussion on ways that Canada can be a more inclusive and even better country. 
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In the News:
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The National Post: "Anti-China fervor casts a dark cloud over solar and U.S. climate goals"

Published: April 27, 2023
Written by: Evan Halper and Maxine Joselow

"Solar companies have become the latest clean tech sector to find itself in the crosshairs as Democrats, in particular, grow anxious that taking anything other than a hard line against China will cost them voter support. Momentum in Congress is escalating to reimpose steep trade tariffs that were suspended by President Biden last summer, a White House effort to give the industry time to move supply chains onshore.
The outcome of this unfolding political drama could have major consequences — not just for solar energy companies, but also for homeowners hoping to add solar panels to their roofs, motorists wanting to charge electric vehicles with clean power and utilities trying to reduce their carbon footprints."

 

 

 

Globe and Mail: "Hostility Between the US and China Doesn't Need to be a Fait Accompli"

Published: April 29, 2023
Written by: Susan L. Shirk

"China's overreach doesn't have to lead to overreaction by America and a dangerous standoff between the two."
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CBC News: "The oldest Chinese temple in Canada is at risk of closing — unless it raises enough money for major repairs"

Published: May 3, 2023
Written by: Michelle Gomez

"The Tam Kung Temple on Government Street in Victoria was built in 1912. But its history goes back even further, according to Nora Butz, president of the Yen Wo Society, which manages the temple."
Foreign Policy Analyses:
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CounterPunch: "The Coming War: Speak Up, Now"

Published: May 1, 2023
Written by: John Pilger

"The responsibility I felt as a journalist was immense. I had witnessed the injustices and suffering delivered by the Depression, and I knew, we all knew, what was coming if silences were not broken.‘
Her words echo across the silences today: they are silences filled with a consensus of propaganda that contaminates almost everything we read, see and hear."

 

 

 

Common Dreams: "What Exact “Security Threat” Does China Pose?"

Published: May 2, 2023
Written by: Chris Wright

"Everyone who abhors war, detests imperialism, and favors cooperation between nations on global warming, poverty reduction, protection of biodiversity, international disarmament, implementation of international law, and other left-wing priorities ought to be appalled by the escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and actively organizing against them."

 

 

 

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Canadian Dimension: "The rules of America versus global civilization"

Published: May 2, 2023
Written by: Henry Heller

"The opposition of the US to China’s growing influence bases itself in the notion that there exists a rules-based order which the latter does not accept. Many find it difficult to understand what the rules-based order is. But it seems to hark back to the rules established at the end of the last great war when America laid down the rules on which its global dominance was based. This included dollar supremacy, open markets and the spread of liberal democracy. The American rules-based order meanwhile effectively excluded the development of the countries of the Global South which were crippled by the super-exploitation of labour and unequal exchange between themselves and the developed capitalist countries from whom they were forbidden to delink."

Resources of Interest
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"China Panic: Australia’s Alternative to Paranoia and Pandering" by David Brophy

"When he visited Australia in 2014, Chinese president Xi Jinping said there was an ‘ocean of goodwill’ between our country and his. Since then that ocean has shown dramatic signs of freezing over. Australia is in the grip of a China Panic. How did we get here and what’s the way out?"

Published: June 2021

About the Author: David Brophy is a historian of Uyghur nationalism and the author of Uyghur Nation. He is a frequent commentator on the Xinjiang crisis and a senior lecturer on modern Chinese history at the University of Sydney.

 

 

 

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Thursday, May 18th