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Canada has signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Indonesia, which aims to eliminate or reduce tariffs on over 95 per cent of Ottawa's exports to its largest market in Southeast Asia.

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Canada's exports include wheat, potash, timber and soybeans.

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The agreement also provides for the elimination of more than 90 per cent of tariffs on Indonesian imports, a boon to Indonesia's export of garments and leather goods to the North American market.

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Simultaneously, a defence cooperation agreement was signed aimed at strengthening collaboration in military training, maritime security, cyber defence and peacekeeping.

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Reade worked briefly as a Senate aide for Biden in the early 1990s before accusing him in 2020 of sexually assaulting her in a Capitol office building in 1993 — allegations Biden categorically denies. Her accusations surfaced during Biden’s presidential campaign but did not result in formal charges.

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Reade moved to Moscow in 2023, claiming she faced threats in the U.S. after repeating her accusations when Biden announced his re-election bid. She appeared at Russian state media events and granted an interview to Tucker Carlson during his visit to Moscow in February 2024. Since relocating, she has worked with Russian propaganda outlet RT.

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Students from China comprise one of Canada’s largest international student populations—nearly 15 percent of the University of Toronto’s total student population in 2024. The majority aren’t leading anti-government marches in the street, or hatching plans to harm their classmates in group chats. But as a result of overseas surveillance and intimidation by the Chinese government, an atmosphere of fear and repression looms over the community at large, chilling free and open discourse. It’s led to a conflict within this community, left largely unaddressed by school authorities, that threatens one of the core values of a university in a free society.

“I think the CCP has created an environment where students are too scared or uncomfortable to talk about politics at all,” [one Chinese student in Canada] says.

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For decades, members of the Chinese diaspora worldwide have been subjected to the phenomenon of “transnational repression.” This term broadly describes “efforts by states to use coercion to silence critics in their diasporas,” according to Emile Dirks, a senior research associate at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, who specializes in Chinese politics and state repression.

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A measure of Beijing’s political influence surged more than 50 percent in Canada over the past two years, an international study finds, after media reports of China’s clandestine election interference were confirmed in public reviews. The China Index 2024, produced by Taiwan’s Doublethink Lab and its global research partners, shows that Beijing’s presence in Canadian politics, academia, media, and society is advancing at a faster pace than almost anywhere else in the democratic world.

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The most alarming takeaway is that China’s increasing grip on Canadian institutions is driving dependence — a factor that could pull Canadian decision makers closer into Beijing’s orbit on economic, security, and social policies.

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The results reflect a “triple movement” in Canada’s relationship with Beijing: greater exposure through academic, media, and technology ties; sustained pressure through China’s diplomacy and retaliation; and rising alignment in the two nations’ policy positions.

“Canada experienced rising exposure and alignment with the PRC alongside sustained high levels of coercive pressure,” the report says, “highlighting a complex mix of engagement and influence dynamics.”

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This confirms a longstanding pattern documented by The Bureau: pro-Beijing Chinese-language outlets in Canada continue to echo Beijing’s lines on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Diaspora-linked cultural organizations, often connected to PRC diplomats or United Front groups, are also highly active. The Index notes that between 2022 and 2024, diaspora cultural events tied to PRC entities nearly doubled worldwide, rising from 38 percent of countries surveyed to 72 percent. Canada is among the cases where these events are expanding and carry political overtones.

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Beijing’s penetration of Canadian technology sectors, from consumer electronics to PRC-linked equipment in infrastructure, remains high. Globally, PRC-linked technology is now embedded in 78.8 percent of critical infrastructure sectors, up from 65.4 percent in 2022, and Canada is part of that trend.

The Economic domain, by contrast, declined slightly for Canada between 2022 and 2024. This may reflect Ottawa’s incremental steps to tighten foreign investment reviews and limit acquisitions in sensitive sectors. Still, the decline in the economic category did not offset the steep rise in politics and technology, which now dominate Canada’s dependence profile.

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In each case, those spreading the disinformation have tailored it for their own ends.

Chinese propaganda has focused on the violent nature of Kirk's death, painting the U.S. as a nation of violent gun owners and political extremists.

Russian voices have tried to tie Kirk's death to U.S. support for Ukraine, even spreading a conspiracy theory that the Ukrainian government killed Kirk because of his criticism of that aid.

Pro-Iranian groups took a different tack, claiming Israel was behind Kirk's death and that the suspect was set up to take the fall. This conspiracy theory caught on with white supremacist groups in the U.S., showing how corrosive claims can easily spread online despite oceans and linguistic and cultural barriers.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42302635

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Suspected Chinese hackers impersonated the chair of the House China Select Committee in emails to people involved in ongoing U.S.-China trade policy negotiations as part of a spying campaign, a House panel said Monday.

Why it matters: The fraudulent emails were sent to a wide range of individuals, including those at U.S. government agencies, business groups, D.C. law firms and think tanks and at least one foreign government.

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• Hackers sent emails purportedly from Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) to key leaders ahead of a meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in Sweden this summer asking for input on draft legislation.
• However, the attached document, which was sent from a nongovernmental email address, was instead laced with spyware that would infect a victim's computer, according the Journal.
• The FBI and Capitol Police are both investigating the emails, and the malware in the emails has been traced back to a hacking group tied to Beijing's Ministry of State Security, per WSJ.

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In a symbolic reversal, the town of Cochrane, Ab., has voted to stay in a national net-zero initiative, despite being targeted by an AI-powered misinformation campaign.

“I don’t like the precedent this sets,” said the town’s mayor, Jeff Genung, at a council meeting Monday night. Genung was concerned that if Cochrane exited the program, it could be used as an example to reverse environmental policies in other communities.

The net-zero initiative, Partners for Climate Protection, is Canada’s flagship municipal environmental framework with over 500 members. It advises local governments on conducting emissions inventories, target-setting, action planning, implementation and monitoring.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/34120777

Canada has been "over reliant on the US for too long," and wants to forge closer ties with the UK and the EU, Canada's foreign minister Melanie Joly said.

"We are the most European of all non-European countries," she told the BBC on Wednesday. "That's why we want to be closer to Europe."

Her latest remarks come after she and Prime Minister Mark Carney met with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday to talk about a new partnership.

US-Canada relations have been tense in recent months, after Trump imposed tariffs on Canada's auto, aluminium and steel industries, and said Canada would be better off as a US state.

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Trump has imposed general tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, and sector-specific import taxes on cars, some of which have been suspended pending negotiations.

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Joly said the tariffs caused widespread anxiety in Canada, and became the number one ballot question in the recent Canadian election.

"Some have lost their jobs, and many families are affected," she said. "My job and the prime minister's job is to make sure that we defend them."

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According to Statistics Canada, Canadian exports to the United States decreased 6.6% in March 2025, a second consecutive monthly decline following the strong ramp up in exports to the United States that led to a record in January. Despite the recent decreases, Canadian exports to the United States were 2.5% higher in March 2025 compared with November 2024. Meanwhile, imports from the United States fell 2.9% in March. Canada's merchandise trade surplus with the United States went from $10.8 billion in February to $8.4 billion in March. Meanwhile, exports to countries other than the United States jump

Canadian exports to countries other than the United States rose 24.8% in March, representing the second-largest percentage increase on record. Exports to the United Kingdom (unwrought gold), the Netherlands (crude oil), Hong Kong (crude oil) and Germany (various products) increased the most for the month.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31793106

[Canadian Prime Minister] Mark Carney Wednesday rejected accusations from his Conservative rival that he’s beholden to Beijing and said he thinks Canada’s trade-diversification strategy should prioritize boosting commerce with “like-minded countries” in Europe instead of China.

The Canadian government is trying to shift trade away from the United States in the face of growing protectionist tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and his challenges to Canadian sovereignty, where he argues that Canada should be annexed as the “51st state” because it allegedly can’t exist without the U.S.

Asked if Canada should boost trade with China as it tries to reduce trade with the U.S., Mr. Carney pointed to Europe instead.

“We want to diversify with like-minded partners. That’s why I went to Europe in my first days as Prime Minister,” the Liberal Leader said during a campaign stop in Windsor, Ont., referring to a visit to Paris and London where he talked about Canadian companies playing a greater role in Europe’s military buildup.

“There are partners in Asia with whom we can build deeper ties,” Mr. Carney said. “But the partners in Asia that share our values don’t include China.”

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"Exercise a high degree of caution in China due to the risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws."

"Our ability to provide consular assistance in China is limited due to the level of transparency in China’s judicial system. It may also impact your ability to obtain effective legal assistance."

In China, you may also be subject to:

• severe punishments, even for non-violent acts such as financial crimes. Chinese authorities may also apply the death penalty for crimes deemed serious, including drug offences
• an exit ban, which you may only learn about as you go through customs and immigration controls when trying to leave China. An exit ban may prevent you from leaving the country if you, your family or your employer and/or business associates are involved in any open civil or criminal investigations, including business disputes

If you are a dual citizen, you should always travel using your valid Canadian passport and present yourself as Canadian to Chinese authorities. If you enter China on a Chinese passport or identity card, the Chinese government may consider you a citizen of China, and refuse to grant you access to Canadian consular services.

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Original article (requires registration)

Canada has floated doing major defense deals with Europe and improving the continent’s access to its critical minerals in response to President Donald Trump’s threats and his pullback from US defense commitments.

Canada is seeking closer defense industry cooperation with Italy and the European Union as “a matter of urgency,” Elissa Golberg, its ambassador in Rome, wrote to Italy’s finance, foreign affairs, defense and enterprise ministers.

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The ambassador’s letter, which was seen by Bloomberg News, requested Italy’s support in ensuring that legislative texts allow third parties to collaborate with the EU’s ReArm defense plan.

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Golberg’s letter outlined plans “to purchase a number of key capabilities through major near-term procurement efforts” including as many as a dozen submarines, additional fighter jets, and battle tanks “that could potentially be acquired from European suppliers”.

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Canadian industry “has much more to offer,” the letter continues, like drones, satellite communications, robotics, AI, cybersecurity, and better integration of supply chains for Canada’s large reserves of critical minerals needed for advanced defence technologies and renewable energy systems such as nickel, cobalt and lithium.

Europe’s effort to boost defense spending “is of interest to us as Canada because of a potential alternative supplier,” Carney told reporters in London on Monday. “It creates the potential to create supply chains that mean that Canadian companies are participating in the development of these defense systems.”

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