Markham Deputy Mayor and former Ontario cabinet minister Michael Chan celebrated the 75th anniversary of the founding of communist-led China in a speech on Sept. 29, praising key policy items of leader Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) rule over China.
“Since the founding of New China, adhering to its determination to reform and opening up, China has made significant achievements in various aspects over the past 75 years, establishing China as the latest great power,” Chan said in Mandarin.
“New China” is a term used by the CCP to describe the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The CCP consolidated its power over China in 1949, with founding leader Mao Zedong declaring Oct. 1 that year as the day of the creation of the People’s Republic.
Chan also made reference to key CCP policy items aimed at making it more powerful.
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China’s leader Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Tunisia’s President Kais Saied (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 31, 2024. Tingshu Wang/ AFP via Getty Images
The report adds that in contrast to the view of former defacto leader Deng Xiaoping (who was behind the CCP’s “reform and opening up” policies after Mao’s death in 1976) that China will “keep a low profile, hide our capabilities and bide our time,” Xi, since becoming leader in 2012, has been outspoken about his ambitions for China to become a central power by 2049.
As for China’s acceptance into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, different studies have shown that it has come at the cost of trade deficits and lost jobs for Western countries, including Canada.
Chan has not returned requests for comment.
CCP’s Rule
During his speech, Chan pointed to the Opium Wars of the 19th century between the Qing-ruled China and Western powers, and the concessions China had to make as a result of those wars. As well, he referred to Japan’s invasion of China and the 1937 Nanjing Massacre where Japanese troops killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in the then-capital city of China under the Nationalist Party government.
Chan then said that looking back over the past 75 years of the PRC, China has gone “from nothing to becoming a strong country.”
Chan said he wishes Canada and China will “respect each other, make progress together, and achieve win-win cooperation.”
Western leaders and the leadership of the NATO military alliance of which Canada is a member have often raised concerns about China’s aggressions on the world stage.
A Chinese coast guard ship uses water canons on a Philippine Coast Guard ship near the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea, as they blocked its path during a re-supply mission on Aug. 5, 2023.
No More ‘Massacres and Oppressions’
In his speech, Chan emphasized that under the CCP’s rule, “There will be no more massacres and oppressions on this land.”
The events of 1989 in Beijing, where thousands of pro-democracy student demonstrators were killed by CCP forces, are commonly referred to as the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Michael Chan’s Controversies
Michael Chan has faced controversies in the past related to his alleged ties to China and his stance on pro-democracy movements.
A 2015 report by The Globe and Mail raised concerns about Chan’s connections to China, leading to a lawsuit against the publication.
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