Canadian lawmakers wary of PRC intentions

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said on Thursday that the government opposes unilateral moves taken by either side of the Taiwan Strait that could change Taiwan's status, build up cross-strait tension and affect political stability and economic prosperity in East Asia.

Answering a question raised in the Canadian parliament by Don Boudria, a leader of the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, who asked Pettigrew whether Canada was taking a similar stance to the US on Beijing's enactment of an "anti-secession" law targeting Taiwan, Pettigrew said that the content of the proposed law is still unknown, but he added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would try to gain further information about the law once it is passed and publicized.

Boudria, who is also chairman of the parliamentarian Taiwan-Canada Friendship Association, said during a question-and-answer session that Washington has recently voiced its opposition to Beijing's enactment of the proposed law, which would provide Beijing with a legal basis to adopt "non-peaceful means" to resolve cross-strait problems if it thinks Taiwan is making moves toward independence.

Meanwhile, Stockwell Day, a spokesman for the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, said that China's expected enactment of the "anti-secession" law reflected Beijing's attempts to invade Taiwan.

Day claimed that Taiwan's "allies," have expressed concern over a democracy being infringed upon by totalitarians, Canada should also render its support to Taiwan.