China in the Crosshairs of Halifax War Conference
- Tony Seed -
 
On November 22, the opening day of the 11th
annual Halifax International Security Forum
(HISF), "a new year-long initiative focused on
China" was announced by HISF President Peter Van
Praagh via press release.
The HISF announcement came two days after U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke out in
Brussels, following a NATO Foreign Ministers'
meeting, saying that NATO's operations are
expanding into Asia. Pompeo stated that "our
alliance must address the current and potential
long-term threat posed by the Chinese Communist
Party." NATO countries cannot ignore the
"fundamental differences and beliefs" between
themselves and the ruling party in Beijing, Pompeo
said.
In the HISF press release, Van Praagh declared,
"It's no longer a secret that Xi Jinping's China
is working hard to make the world safe for
authoritarianism. It is time for a comprehensive
China strategy for the United States, Canada and
their allies -- one that makes the world safe for
democracy.
"Over the next 12 months, Halifax will consult
with subject experts and thought leaders to get
their input on what can be done to confront this
growing threat to our freedom."
The HISF's strategy on China will be released at
the 2020 Halifax International Security Forum,
which will be held two weeks after the U.S.
Presidential election. Thus, the U.S.-based HISF
has given itself the right to design a strategy
for Canada and the "allies."
The rivalry with China over security is posed as
a military conflict to be escalated by the NATO
bloc. This includes sanctions, a form of war. This
is unacceptable. All political and ideological
conflicts must be resolved peaceably.
The major theme of this year's HISF was to
camouflage the Might Makes Right doctrine of NATO
and the striving of the U.S. empire for economic
domination with a phony face of human rights and
cyber security. Within this, China was already
being targeted. A session on November 24 was
titled "Huawei or Our Way." However,
contradictions exist within the NATO block, as
NATO member Germany, for example, does not agree
that the blockade of Huawei Technologies is "our
way."
HISF Participants Claiming to Represent the
Asia-Pacific
Below are the HISF participants who came from
Asia, brought to the war conference with all
expenses paid by Canadian tax dollars. At the head
of the list is the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This
list does not include different participating
think tanks specializing on Asia, which are
itemized in a distinct U.S. category.
U.S. Military
Philip Davidson, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific
Command; Richard Berry, Special Assistant, U.S.
Indo-Pacific Command.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is based in Hawaii.
It is a unified combatant command of the U.S.
Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific
region. It dates from the period when the U.S.
possessed a "one ocean" navy -- the conquest of
Hawaii and the Philippines and continuous
aggression against China, e.g., the Boxer
Rebellion -- and is the oldest and largest of the
unified combatant commands. Formerly known as U.S.
Pacific Command (USPACOM), and renamed on May 30,
2018, it conducts military operations in an area
which encompasses more than 100 million square
miles (260,000,000 km2), or roughly 52
per cent of the Earth's surface, stretching from
the waters off the west coast of the U.S. and
Canada to the west coast of India, and from the
Arctic to the Antarctic.
The Commander reports to the U.S. President
through the Secretary of Defense and is supported
by Service component and subordinate unified
commands, including U.S. Army Pacific, U.S.
Pacific Fleet, U.S. Pacific Air Forces, U.S.
Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Forces Japan, U.S.
Forces Korea, Special Operations Command Korea,
and Special Operations Command Pacific.
Japan
Yukinari Hirose, President, National Institute
for Defense, Japan
Hideo Suzuki, Director General for International
Affairs, Defense Policy Bureau, Ministry of
Defense, Japan
Matake Kamiya, Professor, International
Relations, National Defense Academy of Japan;
Director and Distinguished Research Fellow, Japan
Forum on International Relations
Masashi Nishihara, President, Research Institute
for Peace and Security, Japan
Yoichi Kato, Senior Research Fellow, Asia Pacific
Initiative, Japan
Hideshi Tokuchi, Visiting Professor, National
Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Japan
Tsuneo Watanabe, Senior Fellow, International
Peace and Security Department, Sasakawa Peace
Foundation
Noboru Yamaguchi, Advisor, Sasakawa Peace
Foundation
Korea
Byung Kee Kim and Seung-Joo Baek, Members of the
National Assembly, The Daehanminguk Gukhoe,
Republic of Korea
Jaeho Hwang, Director, Global Security
Cooperation Center; Professor, Division of
International Studies, Hankuk University of
Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
China
Szu-chien Hsu, Director of the Board, Institute
for National Defense and Security Research, Taiwan
Yeh-chung Lu, Associate Professor, Department of
Diplomacy, National Cheng-chi University; Vice
President, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
J. Michael Cole, Senior Fellow, China Policy
Institute, University of Nottingham, Taiwan
Hong Kong
Emily Lau, Former Chairperson, Democratic Party;
Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic
Party, Hong Kong
King-wa Fu, Associate Professor, Journalism and
Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Figo Chan, vice-convenor, Civil Human Rights
Front, Hong Kong; Sales Director at ESTEC Corp.
Inc. since August 2011
Himalayas
Dolkun Isa, President, World Uyghur Congress,
China
Lobsang Sangay, President, Central Tibetan
Administration, Tibet
Indonesia
Teuku Faizasyah, Adviser to the Indonesian
Foreign Minister for Political, Legal, and
Security Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Indonesia
Singapore
Keng Yong Ong, Executive Deputy Chairman, S.
Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Philippines
Richard Javad Heydarian, Research Fellow,
National Chengchi University; Columnist, Philippine Daily
Inquirer, Philippines
India
Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, Bharatiya
Janata Party; Director, India Foundation, India
Nirmal Verma, Chief of Naval Operations
Distinguished International Fellow, U.S. Naval War
College, India
Ruhee Neog, Director, Institute of Peace and
Conflict Studies, India
Chaitanya Giri, Fellow, Space and Ocean Studies,
Indian Council on Global Relations, Gateway House,
India
Rita Manchanda, Research Consultant, South Asia
Forum for Human Rights, India
Dhruva Jaishankar, Director, U.S. Initiative,
Observer Research Foundation, India
Pakistan
Husain Haqqani, Director and Senior Fellow, South
and Central Asia, Hudson Institute, Pakistan
Farahnaz Ispahani, Former Member of Parliament,
Qaumi Assembly, Pakistan
Australia
Joseph Hockey, Ambassador of Australia to the
United States
Michelle McGuinness, Director General Counter
Proliferation & Terrorism, Defence
Intelligence Organisation, Australia
Rachel Durbin, Director, Future Force Lifecycle
Engineering, Navy Capability Division, Royal
Australian Navy, Australia, HISF Peace With Women
Fellow
New Zealand
Rose King, Chief of Staff, Headquarters Joint
Forces New Zealand, New Zealand Defence Force,
HISF Peace With Women Fellow
Lisa Ferris, Director, Defence Legal Services,
New Zealand Army, HISF Peace With Women Fellow
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 29 - November 30, 2019
Article Link:
China in the Crosshairs of Halifax War Conference - Tony Seed
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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