BEIJING – China's media are hailing David Emerson as the potential savior of Canada-China relations. The new Canadian foreign minister, they say, is a “son-in-law of China” who understands this country better than any of his cabinet colleagues.
Mr. Emerson is called a “son-in-law of China” because his wife, Theresa Yeuk-Si Tang, was born in Hong Kong. The Chinese media are all in a flutter about it. They say the new foreign minister even has a Chinese name – Ai Minxin, which can be loosely translated as “trusted by the people.”
An article in the Global Times, a popular state-owned tabloid in Beijing, praises Emerson for his “close relations” with ethnic Chinese in Vancouver. “Due to his many communications with the Chinese government, Emerson is recognized as a Chinese expert,” the newspaper said.
“Analysts think that Emerson's appointment as foreign minister might bring an improvement in relations between Canada and China,” the Global Times added. “He is expected to reduce the ideological differences between Canada and China…. He is the Canadian minister who is most familiar with Chinese issues, and the one who has visited China the most times.”
The Chinese media love to emphasize the Chinese ethnic connections of any prominent foreigner. People such as Mr. Emerson and business tycoon Rupert Murdoch are described as “sons-in-law of China” because their wives are ethnically Chinese. The new Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, is lionized in the Chinese press because he speaks Mandarin and his daughter married a Hong Kong man. And of course Canada's former Governor-General, Adrienne Clarkson, was another Chinese media favorite because she was born in Hong Kong.
But the Chinese media are probably correct in their assessment of Mr. Emerson's expertise. I have interviewed almost every Canadian cabinet minister who has visited Beijing in recent years, and Mr. Emerson is by far the most knowledgeable on Chinese issues. Most of his cabinet colleagues are China neophytes who are usually terse and uncomfortable when answering questions on sensitive Canada-China issues. Mr. Emerson is a rare minister who seems unflustered on almost any Chinese subject.
Whether this will lead to an improvement in Canada-China relations, however, is doubtful. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is still calling the shots on Canada's foreign policy, and he is one of the few Western leaders who has never bothered to visit China. The Chinese government pays attention to these matters, and it has noted Mr. Harper's apparent disdain for China.
