Japanese military expansion in Asia before the Second World War led the U.S. to embargo the export to Japan of vital raw materials. In response, Japan, with a population then of about 75 million, sought out the oilfields of Indonesia and bombed Pearl Harbour to prevent a U.S. response.
Today, China (population 1.3 billion) is consuming about 40 per cent of the world's trade in commodities and purchasing large resource companies and industries around the world to feed its growth. This also fuels an increased military capability - all the better to threaten the Japanese-held Sekaku islands and the remote Spratly group west of the Philippines. Partly in response to these actions, the U.S. is increasing its military presence in Australia and the Western Pacific. Chinese expansion must be contained.
At least three threats to the security of Canada and the West - CNOOC's eyes on Nexen, Chinese purchase of oil from a Northern Gateway pipeline and the Huawei technology investment proposal - need to be stopped. Unfortunately, since Ottawa and Alberta are courting Chinese investment in the oilsands, shale gas and in pipelines, it is likely that national security interests will be made secondary to trade imperatives with China.
The West and Canada should not trust China with resources whose use could threaten our security. Containment now may provoke more paranoia and aggression by China - remember Japan in 1941 - but our security requires that we adopt this policy.
Ross Peters
Victoria
