When: Thursday, March 21, 2024, 6-7:30pm PT/ 9 - 10:30 pm ET
Where: O nline (Reserve here)

To commemorate the often-overlooked Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre - Museum of Migration Society invited speakers from diverse backgrounds to share and engage in narratives surrounding anti-racism. Using storytelling as a medium to address the lived realities in which racial discrimination manifests itself, combined with the historical lens that the books 1923: Challenging Racisms Past and Present and Challenging Racist British Columbia navigate from, this webinar aims at providing an inclusive, informative, and safe space for learning.

Engaging in open dialogue is crucial to fostering mutual understanding and cultivating a more inclusive society.  During this panel discussion, speakers will offer critical insights drawn from historical knowledge, personal observations and experiences within Pacific Canada. Please join us.

It started with former President Donald Trump’s trade war against China, in which the U.S. accused China of stealing American intellectual property. The accusation was met with vehement pushback from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both countries then proceeded to intensify their operations against influence and espionage activities from the other.  As a result, Chinese immigrants on both ends of the political spectrum have become haunted by government agents in China and the United States. Their political activity is now cast under a magnifying glass and is causing immense repercussions for them and their families. Paranoia and fear are spreading in New York City’s Chinese communities, pushing once-active members of the community to focus their time on benign pursuits.

Published: March 11, 2024
Written by: Nathaniel Dove

Data released by Statistics Canada shows Chinese tourism is far behind pre-pandemic levels, reaching barely a third of those numbers last year as tensions remain fraught between Ottawa and Beijing.

Global News asked the Chinese embassy in Ottawa about the status but did not hear back by deadline. Embassy staff previously told Global News “[t]he Canadian side has repeatedly hyped up the so-called ‘Chinese interference,’ and rampant and discriminatory anti-Asian acts and words are rising significantly in Canada.”

Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

Wang’s visit comes as Beijing aims to step up its profile as a peace broker and has become increasingly vocal in its opposition to the Gaza war.

Wang, a former ambassador to Lebanon, has been in the region since at least March 10 when he met with counterparts in Egypt, before traveling to the West Bank, Israel and Qatar as part of a previously unannounced trip in which the war in Gaza has been high on the agenda.

China has described a potential TikTok ban as “an act of bullying” that would backfire on America.
The comments, made by China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday, came hours before a House of Representatives vote on legislation that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the popular short video app to an American company — or face being barred in the US, where it boasts over 170 million users.

Wang accused the US of “resorting to acts of bullying” when it could not succeed in fair competition, saying such practice would disrupt market operations, undermine investor confidence and sabotage the global economic order.

Chen, China's permanent representative to the UN Office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, said that artificial intelligence is a new field of human development and should adhere to the concept of consultation, joint construction, and shared benefits, while working together to promote the governance of artificial intelligence.

The new generation of children has become one of the main groups using and benefiting from AI technology. The joint statement emphasized the importance of children's mental health issues.

China experienced a spate of heatwaves, droughts, rainstorms and typhoons. This extreme weather was down to a mixture of human-caused climate change and the return of the El Niño natural weather phenomenon.
How China responds to these challenges is crucial, and not just in terms of policy at the macro scale.
With this in mind, and as we enter the Year of the Dragon, we asked civil society groups and academics active in China’s environmental sector about the work they have been doing over the past 12 months. What did they think was the most significant environment-related event or policy of 2023? And what gave them the greatest sense of accomplishment?

Published: March 18, 2024

China plans to adopt a region-specific approach to environment protection and ecological conservation, according to guidelines released on Sunday.

By 2025, the country aims to designate the areas that should be covered by ecological conservation, especially areas that are subject to high resource consumption, severe environmental pollution and ecological damage, according to the guidelines. By 2035, the system will be implemented nationwide, offering the foundation for the country's efforts to build a more beautiful China.

In August 2023, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) distributed a "security alert" to the media, alleging that China had established seven "police stations" in Canada, including the two aforementioned organizations in Quebec.

This 15-page document has become a major weapon for some opposition parties and politicians in Canada to hype "Chinese interference in Canadian politics," causing significant discrimination against the local Chinese community. 

The accusations by the RCMP have seriously disrupted the normal lives of Chinese people in Quebec, and have also caused significant impacts to the economic, social and community functions of the Chinese groups in the region.

Published: March 8, 2024
Written by: Phil Carpenter

A Montreal-area Chinese community centre and its director have launched a defamation lawsuit against Brossard Mayor Doreen Assaad. Xixi Li, executive director of the Centre Sino-Québec de la Rive-Sud and also a Brossard city councillor, says she intends to restore her reputation.
“I am saddened that rather than defend my right to the presumption of innocence, my colleague has chosen to vilify me,” she wrote. “It is not easy for racialized women to fulfill multiple roles in family, community and public service, so I had expected more solidarity from another female elected official.”

With an interest in studying abroad rebounding after the pandemic, there are signs that the decades-long run that has sent an estimated 3 million Chinese students to the U.S., including many of the country’s brightest, could be trending down, as geopolitical shifts redefine U.S.-China relations.
Cutting people-to-people exchanges could have a lasting impact on relations between the two countries.

“International education is a bridge,” said Fanta Aw, executive director of the NAFSA Association of International Educators, based in Washington. “A long-term bridge, because the students who come today are the engineers of the future. They are the politicians of the future, they are the business entrepreneurs of the future.”

More information about the caravan:

• ON TO OTTAWA PDF LETTER
• Poster with Dates
• WILPF website: https://wilpfcanada.ca/index.php/2024/03/16/join-us-for-the-on-to-ottawa-peace-caravan/