Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you. I don't know how to answer this question. It's really hard to speculate on how China would respond. Given its particular take on history and its understanding of its place in the world, I think it's extremely important: We need to have a channel that's capable of communicating with them so that it's understood that this is not an act of provocation.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think probably it would be a good idea, but I want to point out that having a more relaxed policy in Canada doesn't automatically mean that those activists from Taiwan will end up in Canada. They have very different cultural, economic and social contexts. Those are the choices people make due to different circumstances.

Canada-China Relations committee  As far as I know, the beginning of that really started in 1989 when some of the student leaders of the uprising in Tiananmen Square fled to Taiwan, and some continued to stay. I think the most recent wave, obviously, was some of the activists from Hong Kong who fled to Taiwan, and they continue to live there.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, I would say that in general it has been welcoming. I should add that for the past few decades, there was major youth activism in Taiwan, including the occupation of the legislatures a few years ago. A lot of this traffic is going back and forth in different directions. Some scholars have pointed out that some of the activism in Hong Kong was actually inspired by their Taiwanese counterparts.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think the question is about how we approach this. I think there are symbolic acts that often end up simply provoking China, but then there are things that could be done with great substance at the lower level. I can think about economic ties. Definitely that's one possibility, but I think there's also collaboration on the issue of public health, issues about indigenous people and civil society in general.

Canada-China Relations committee  Absolutely. I think currently there is a lot of student traffic between Canada and Taiwan. I think those are ways in which to exercise Canada's soft power. Canada is also a brand name globally, especially in certain areas, and high education is one of the areas where we have a brand.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for the question. In the kind of situation in which a specific industry could make choices, I think the choice is pretty obvious. This is one area we could think about. To be realistic, at this moment in time there are lots of areas where Taiwan simply cannot replace China.

Canada-China Relations committee  Without being a trade expert, I think it seems increasingly common sense that trade and commerce have been weaponized. Of course, that's not just by China. It's quite common. However, China's being an economic superpower means that when they choose to weaponize trade, it is quite a powerful weapon.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you for that question. I think earlier Mr. Robertson actually mentioned Minister Audrey Tang, the digital minister. I think one of the things they set up was a rapid response centre to any form of misinformation or disinformation. In other words, anything that comes out would be very quickly verified.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the special committee. It's an honour for me to be here this evening. What we call Taiwan today is a product of a long history. For centuries the island existed at the edge of successive dynastic empires until it was colonized by the Empire of Japan in the last decade of the 19th century.