Angry in the Great White North

Three Canadians who went to China to make a statement about Tibet have returned home after being arrested by Chinese authorities:

Three Canadian protesters who took the cause of Tibetan independence into the heart of China returned home yesterday, relieved to be out of Chinese custody and pumped by the worldwide publicity their exploits attracted.

Victoria-born Lhadon Tethong, arrived late yesterday in Toronto, greeted by loud cheers and applause from supporters waving Tibetan flags and banners.

Despite the rapture of their homecoming, however, the Canadian protesters talked sombrely of their relatively brief but harrowing time in custody.

Her voice cracking, Ms. Tethong, 31, said there were moments when she feared for her safety. At one point during her intense interrogation, a Chinese police officer produced printed pages of her blog, chronicling her activities in Beijing.

"That was one moment when I actually questioned whether I would be able to go home or not," she said. Dozens of plainclothes police shadowed her during her stay in Beijing, Ms. Tethong said. Later, in custody, she was taken aback by how much authorities knew about her background and family history.

"The plainclothes, the higher-ups, they knew every detail of my life. It was scary," she said.

Well, first of all, if it was on the blog, then of course they knew about it.

But for the stuff not on the blog? What do you think all those Chinese spies in Canada are doing? From a Peter Worthington column from 2005:

The brainchild of former Hong Kong-based immigration control officer Brian MacAdam and RCMP Cpl. Robert Read, Project Sidewinder investigated and analyzed China's massive economic investment into Canada, and its potential for espionage.

Sidewinder found that a "triumvirate" of Chinese entrepreneurs, criminal triads and Beijing, guided by the Chinese Intelligence Service, was bent on buying up Canadian businesses, investing in our economy, and influencing politicians and political parties, all while setting up front organizations, criminal activities and intimidation, as well as intelligence gathering.

It sounds ominous -- and it was.

The Sidewinder report of 1997 confounded and irritated the Liberal government of Jean Chretien. Sidewinder was promptly shut down.

Sidewinder also upsets the government of Paul Martin. No one wants the boat rocked.

But of course, the Liberals made sure that no one was offending China:

In 1999, the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), a civilian body that oversees CSIS, unleashed a scathing report against Sidewinder that humiliated both the RCMP and CSIS.

SIRC determined Sidewinder was "deeply flawed on almost all respects," it "did not meet the most elementary standards of professional and analytical rigour" and produced "no evidence of any substantial and immediate threat."

MacAdam was forced into retirement, Read was fired, CSIS ducked for cover. A brief flurry in the media quickly died.

Defectors claim over 1,000 Chinese agents for the Public Security Bureau are working in Canada, keeping tabs on political protesters like Tethong, and apparently their families as well.

Jean Chretien and Paul Martin did everything in their power to make nice with the Chinese. The result? Apparently the Ministry of Public Security has files on Canadians who dare contest China's territorial claims throught Asia. And file on their families, too -- for leverage, of course.

And the future? The Conservative government led by Stephen Harper has been unapologetic in criticizing the Chinese. The release of these protesters was in no small part due to pressure from Ottawa, as noted by one of the protesters:

[Sam Price], meanwhile, accused Chinese officials of using "psychological deception" on the Great Wall protesters during their 36 hours in detention.

"They lied to us. They told us we had no rights to see our embassy officials, which was completely false ... and they told us [the Canadian embassy] did not want to see us."

In fact, Canadian officials in both Ottawa and Beijing made repeated efforts to secure access to the detained Canadians, but failed to receive any confirmation from Chinese authorities that they were being held.

Without this behind-the-scenes pressure from the Canadian government, the protesters might still be in custody, Mr. Price, 32, said.

"They asked us to sign documents in Chinese that we could not understand, but we stuck to our guns and demanded to see someone from our embassy before agreeing to anything.

"I believe it was through pressure [from Canada] that they finally relented and deported us," he said.

I'm willing to bet Sam Price is no Conservative Party supporter himself. But he knows who deserves the credit here.

And the Liberals? Well, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin are gone. But remember that SIRC report that trashed the Sidewinder findings, and led to the end of the careers of Read and MacAdam?

Bob Rae was on that committee. Of course, Bob's brother John, a long-adivsor to Jean Chretien, is on the board of Power Corp. Maurice Strong was the president of Power Corp, hiring Paul Martin and giving him his start in politics and business, and then leaving to, well, end up where he is right this minute...in China, trying to help the Chinese Chery Automobile Company start exporting their GM-Daewoo ripoffs in North America in the hope of destroying the North American auto industry.

And Power Corp itself? John Rae might be able to tell you, and maybe his brother Bob, but in case they aren't taking calls, Amnesty International tells us about Power Corp's interests in Tibet:

Power Corporation, through its affiliate, Power Pacific Corporation Ltd., participated in a recent joint venture project to supply rail cars for China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway. This is the only railway that connects China proper with the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Yes, Tibet. What a coincidence.

I'd say Sam Price is right to give credit to this government for the quick release of him and his friends. The Conservatives are not beholden to Power Corp and so not likely to have much concern for Power Corp's Chinese ties, or for Maurice Strong's eagerness to ship cheap Chinese cars in this country. Who knows just what threats the Chinese were planning to make against Tethong and her family had a Canadian government all too eager to be nice to the Chinese been in power today?