Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Of Course China has Spies in Canada!

The Director of CSIS, Canada’s intelligence & espionage agency (read: “spy agency”), said a number of interesting things in his interview with the CBC. The one that has generated a fair bit of media buzz and which has ruffled the feathers in Ottawa and British Columbia is his statement that China has spies in Canada and some of them have sunk their hooks into Canadian politicians at the municipal & provincial levels.

The Director, Richard Fadden, seems to be getting himself into hot water. While he hasn’t recanted what he’s said, he’s clammed up now. I think the politicians are putting pressure on the man and may make him disappear in short order. That, however, should not take away from the fact that Mr. Fadden has done the public a great service by creating awareness that espionage goes on and that part of the game is subverting other nations or influencing their leaders towards certain thoughts or actions.

A common Western sensibility is that spying is done only on enemies, and when it’s done, it’s the cloak-and-dagger James Bond variety of spying. Well, okay, classic Bond before he turned into the action hero Bond of the 1990s. I think this way of thinking parallels the thinking behind the the sport of boxing – no hits below the belt, and it’s a stand-up fight. Unfortunately, that is the worst kind of way to fight in the real world, particularly between nations where the lives and welfare of millions are involved.

China and many other nations practice the principles espoused by Sun Tzu in his classic treatise, The Art of War. Many people know two of his fundamental principles:

1. If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
2. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.

The only way to truly know your enemy is through the use of spies. Canadians would do well to remember that, and also to remember that in the grand scheme of things, countries who are “friends” now may not always remain friends. Spying on countries even before you are at war with them – whether of the hot or cold variety – is simply sensible.

To subdue your enemy without a fight also requires skill and, very often, subterfuge. The use of spies to discern critical information is a key part of this, but so is assassination, sabotage, and manipulation. We frown on assassination, perhaps rightfully so. Sabotage might be best left to the opening acts of open hostilities, as would happen via cyberattack. That leaves manipulation. To me, it makes total sense for China to try to manipulate our leaders and to manipulate Chinese immigrants. Why shouldn’t they do that? Put yourself in the shoes of the Chinese leadership and tell me why you wouldn’t do the same thing.

What Director Fadden has revealed to the public should not be cause for McCarthyite witchhunts.  It does not in and of itself taint political leaders across the board.  It does, however, bring attention to dusty corners of our own country and our own governance that have long been neglected out of public ignorance. I do not know the best way to proceed from here, how best to use this new awareness and attention to bolster our national, cultural and political defenses, but I am certain that putting political pressure on the messenger – Mr. Fadden – is not the right way. Getting him to shut up or recant his message does not help the nation – it would simply be Canada behaving like an ostrich, sticking our innocent head in the sand.

The truth is, there are Chinese spies in Canada. Also American, British, and French. Yes, these are countries we trade with, shake hands with, and wish to continue having positive relations with. That does not, however, mean that these countries are not also undertaking spy activities against us to further their own goals. Though this news is causing a bit of a stir, it should not. It should intead lead to action and change in perspective and behaviour that betters the nation.

Our political leaders would do well to understand the powerful nation and competitor across the Pacific the same way that business leaders in the 80s and early-90s tried to understand Japanese competitors. A good start would be to familiarize ourselves with the principles from The Art of War. It helps a lot to explain the asian way of thinking about competition and conflict, and that means knowing our enemy better to improve our odds on the global playing field.