CHINA's BULLY BOYS

   Canadian MPs on the House of Commons foreign-affairs committee were told during a fact-finding visit to Hong Kong in late 2017 that Chinese authorities did not want them meeting with leading figures from the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony.
   And in early 2019, according to Linda Duncan, who was an NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona at the time, her office was contacted by the Chinese embassy in Canada advising her not to proceed with plans to meet with the Dalai Lama. The spiritual leader of the Tibetan people has lived in exile since fleeing his homeland in 1959 during an uprising against China’s rule.
   Members of Parliament bridled at the attempted interference. Ms. Duncan said Tuesday that “it was completely inappropriate and none of their bloody business.”

   The Chinese embassy in Ottawa, however, now says it believes that contact with the the Dalai Lama, who lives in India, constitutes  an intrusion in China’s affairs. The same goes for communicating with Hong Kong pro-democracy figures, it said.