Still, at this stage, life in Beijing went on…

Tuesday, April 01

Meeting on the Lai Changxing case, updating developments on the legal front.

Meeting with The Balloch Group about CCBC matters.

Various individual meetings with Staff on program matters.

Hosted dinner for Baker&Mackenzie law firm’s Bing Ho.

CCLA

Letter from Senator Dan Hays following-up on the subject of the possible visit of CCP Vice-Minister Zhang Zhijun. Senator Hays confirmed that the Canada-China Legislative Association Co-Chairs Senator Jack Austin and MP Joe Volte would issue an official invitation to the Vice-Minister to visit Canada.

Wednesday, April 02

SARS

Along with the members of the SARS Task Force, watched a DFAIT-hosted video conference on SARS risks and implications.
This was an important DFAIT initiative as it provided the legal and policy frameworks triggered by a crisis such as SARS, including those addressed in the Canadian Labour Code, Treasury Board regulations, and Health Canada’s ‘Infection Control Guidelines’ and the policies of provincial health authorities. It authorized the purchase and distribution of masks and respirators, as well as other prophylactic measures to protect Staff from infection. It addressed the issue of voluntary and obligatory departures under Foreign Service Directive 64. It opened options such as repatriation of dependents and non-essential Staff, should it be judged to be necessary, ‘in order to reduce the number of people in the envelope’. The US had already authorized voluntary departure for their HK and Guangzhou Consular staffs. Might this prompt our own Staffs to request repatriation, to which they had full rights? My view and that of the Task Force was fully consistent with the regulations: since much was unknown about the progress and implications of SARS, we would hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Many Staff members had their health and that of their families (including many young children) to consider and taking health risks was not part of the job description. It was fully expected that SARS would continue to make its way north in China – as it did – and indeed spread throughout much of the world – as it did.

I may be running ahead of the story a bit in this narrative, but in fact, the only repatriation of Embassy Officers that was requested and did take place was in response to an order from Ottawa from a GoC agency that had one Canadian Staff member in Beijing. Unless the severity of the epidemic and living conditions e.g. school closures, for example, forced the issue, Staff chose to stay in place, as the disruptions of returning to Canada – stuck in a hotel, no schooling for the kids, interrupting one’s career, however temporarily – these were seen by most if not all CBS to be much greater burden than staying in place, at least at this stage. As long as Staff were confident that the information that they were receiving about SARS – from the Embassy Task Force, from the media, from their friends in Beijing and the Consulate cities – as long as that information was credible and the risk of catching SARS was manageable, they would stay in place.

BT&I

Meeting with Roger Heng, VP, Bank of Montreal China Branch.

Perhaps somewhat optimistically, BMO’s Chairman was to visit in July and we discussed possible program elements. Vice-Chairman Bill Downe would also be coming to China, to participate in the Shanghai Mayor’s International Business Leaders’ Advisory Group. Established in 1989, Readers will remember from Consul General Beck’s essay that this was one of China’s most prestigious international gathering of senior global business executives, each a leader of multinational corporations. It remains so to this day.

SARS

It was essential to keep both CBS and LES informed of what steps would be taken and which were contemplated as the impact of SARS and its projected course came to our attention. One of the realities of such public health situations is that rumours abound, some with elements of credibility, some far-fetched. Our LES would be better attuned to these rumours and speculation than I or my Canada-based colleagues. One of the initiatives that I took was to appoint from the Political Section a ‘Rumours Czar’ – although I may not have called him that at the time – and invited all Staff to share the rumours they were hearing or reading with the ‘Czar’. It was his job to check out these rumors and inform the entire Embassy staff about the substance or lack thereof of the rumours. This had a very felicitous and positive effect, as verification and transparency kept misinformation in some degree of check.  

In order to add to the security of local Staff who depended on public transportation – subways and buses – to travel to and from the Embassy, I also directed that all such travel be by private car or taxi. All related expenses would be reimbursed by the Embassy, on the basis of receipts.  While not 100% secure, it was a better option than the alternative: riding subways and buses. It was also a sign to the Staff that health trumped everything.

Another Embassy initiative we called ‘SARS Situation Indicators’. There were five such indicators, against which there would was regular status report. An example of the Indicators, as they appeared, later in the month, and as the geographic scope of the disease spread to Beijing:

  1. Spread of SARS in Beijing:
    • Cases in the Chinese population: 2504 probable cases (5 new), 1069 suspect cases, 168 deaths.
    • Evidence of Chinese Authorities’ concern: i.e. use of gas masks, reduction in crowd sizes, media reports etc.
    • Known cases in the foreign population: 8 probable cases, 1 death.
    • Acceleration in rate of spread: contained inside China.
    • Cases among Embassy/Consulate population: none.
    • Interest among Canadians in China: consular inquiries decreasing.
  2. Availability of acceptable medical treatment:
    • Beijing fatality rate:  may be higher than expected.
    • Adequate supply of ventilators: many (49) reserved for foreigners, total supply unknown.
    • Availability of hospital space and staff: 16 hospitals designated (3,500 beds) – 75% occupied.
    • Availability for Foreigners: 17 isolation rooms – 3 occupied.
    • Lack of information on treatment of SARS patients: yes, one Canadian case lacks transparency.
    • Examples of inadequate treatment: yes, reported absence of ventilators in some cases.
    • SARS among health workers: 397 probables.

Transportation
Suspension of AC flights: large reduction of AC flights out of Beijing.
Decreased outbound passenger capacity: limited service reduction (particularly to SE Asia).
Waiting lists for outbound flights: some, but availability not a problem.
Possibility of ban on direct flights to Canada: no.

School Closures
Indefinite shutdown of ex-pat schools: some Chinese schools scheduled to reopen this week.

  • Western Academy of Beijing: open, last day of class June 13.
  • International School of Beijing: open, last day May 30.
  • Lycée Français: open, last day June 27.
  • Montesorri: open, last day June 13.
  • reported SARS cases among school population: none.

Departure plans for Western Missions:
US: approved voluntary departures – a minority of embassy dependents has left.
Australia: approved voluntary departures.
Britain: approved voluntary departures.
France: no measures;
Other EU: Netherlands OKs departures.
Others: NZ & Singapore: voluntary Staff and dependant departures.
Major Western missions evacuation/shut down: none.

This weekly update was one of the most reassuring exercises which we put in place for our staffs, as it also provided a credible comparative picture of how our fellow embassies were assessing the SARS risks. And not only Embassy staffs: one of the reasons that I instituted this weekly report was to keep Government Departments in Canada who had staff in China with a good ‘on the ground’ picture of how we and counterpart governments were reading the situation. One Department in Ottawa pulled its Canadian staff causing a degree of what I considered unnecessary disruption. Still, it was their option, viewed from the perspective of ‘better safe than sorry’.

On April 2, I held a separate meeting with the Spouses of Canada Based Staff, again with the objective of providing maximum transparency of the Embassy’s knowledge of the course and risks of SARS and measures that we were taking, recognizing that these would evolve over time. Many of our Staff had children, and their health and safety was paramount. All would have friends from the foreign and Chinese communities providing their take on what was happening. I wanted to hear what they were hearing so that we could stay ahead of the fact and rumour curves.

At the same time, we distributed to all staff a fulsome text entitled: ‘SARS: BASIC GUIDELINES FOR THE CANADIAN EMBASSY’ which in considerable detail addressed issues such as precautions against infection, personal hygiene, signs and symptoms, and the admonition that Staff seek additional information from their Managers and me if and when they have questions to ask or issues to raise. 

These were all steps which I and my colleagues considered essential to manage our responses to the crisis. Did I then or do I now believe that these steps resolved everyone’s concerns and worries? Not for a minute. SARS was a dangerous beast whose whereabouts and consequences had both known and unknown features. Everyone in and out of the Embassy world had their own concerns and worries. People believe what they choose to believe. My senior colleagues and I voted for maximum transparency and regular – even daily – information flow, on the one hand, and tackling rumours on the other. In the end, it did all work out, with the health risks managed by following the best advice of the best medical advisors and sustaining, by and large, credibility among our Embassy and Consular colleagues.

Thursday, April 03

Various meetings with Staff on Program issues.

ChinaGov

Discussion with RCMP and Political Section preparatory to meeting with the Vice Minister of Public Security Zhao Jongji.

My meeting the MPS Vice Minister was to discuss three issues: catch-up, as we had not met in a while, cooperation on anti-corruption and the Lai Changxing case.

On the latter file, I explained the legal processes in cases such as that of Lai. At this stage, the Court was not dealing with a Lai appeal for release, but rather a review of the process of the case so far. In all likelihood, Lai’s case would make its way to the Federal Trial Division. This itself could take several months to advance through the deliberations. Again, and in all likelihood, the case would go the Supreme Court of Canada. In any event, Justice Canada would persevere with the case to its conclusion. (As noted in Charlotte Bull’s essay of January 24, 2002, Lai was extradited 8 years later, in July, 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Chinese courts in 2012.)

I added one point essential to the conversation: what is China doing to prevent other Lais from escaping to Canada?

SARS

The Embassy received a briefing from colleagues at the US Embassy on their response to SARS, along the following lines:

  • the US was now seriously considering a voluntary departure program for its staff, based on a number of considerations:
  • the size of the foreign community in China: that of Beijing alone roughly estimated at 100K to 200K;
  • the extent of Chinese medical facilities open to foreigners throughout China and available to treat SARS was unknown;
  • the potential of the foreign communities overwhelming what facilities that were available;
  • concerns about the immensely disruptive effect of ‘foreigners heading for the exits’.
  • a military airlift was conceivable, but other demands on the military – the war in Iraq was still raging – would complicate matters;
  • a US decision on repatriation would impact the entire expat community;
  • some US companies had begun repatriating employees.

Other Embassies – not least our own – were no doubt giving similar consideration to an array of options: from voluntary to mandatory repatriation to closing the Mission entirely, leaving behind a skeleton staff. Still, I and my colleagues, including at the ConGens, were not there yet. There were simply too many unknowns: the potential severity of the epidemic; if and when and what would be the Chinese Government’s response – still being awaited, and the family disruption elements already mentioned.

So, it was the ‘one day at a time’ top-of-the agenda issue.

And there were other considerations on the shelf, notably high-level visits still on planned: Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham in June, PM Wen Jiabao to Canada in September, PM in October.

On verra…

Later that evening, I had a lengthy conversation with ADM Mulroney about SARS and various repatriation scenarios for the Staffs of the Embassy and Consulates. ‘Option A’, viz. the repatriation of all Staffs and closure of the Missions was theoretical but not expected. As SARS health and attendant risks increased, more likely would be departure of some CBS and/or CBS Spouses and their dependants. In this latter case, the CBS themselves and Embassy Management would make the decisions.

‘Triggers’ for such decisions could include: overall health risk analysis and situations; decisions by fellow-Embassies (the US, the Brits, Australians etc); available options in local care; transportation options, recognizing that flying in an enclosed aircraft also increased risks of infection; recommendations by credible medical organizations. We also discussed the budgetary implications of these various options.

ChinaPs&Cs

Letter to Mayor Li Chuncheng, Chengdu People’s Municipal Government.

I first thanked the Mayor for hosting me and my colleagues on March 27. I also provided him with a thumbnail sketch of the meetings I had with Canadian companies, and drew his attention to issues that they had raised, stating that many of these businesses could play important roles in Chengdu’s economic development, listing the sectors of their involvement in his city and in the region. I informed him that while Canadians have great interest in developments in China, their specific knowledge of regions such as Sichuan was limited. ‘In order to increase the opportunities for commercial, cultural and educational linkages between your city and Canada, I encourage you and your officials to pay great attention to the promotion of Chengdu’s profile in Canada’, encouraging him as well to visit Canada. Our Consulate in Chongqing is prepared to lend assistance, I assured him.

I addressed very similar letters to Party Secretary Huang Zhendong, Chongqing, and to Governor Zhang Zhongwei of Sichuan People’s Municipal Government.

The follow-up, of course, depended on Chengdu, but I would return to these themes in the future. 

Exchange with Health Services International of Calgary on a proposed hospital development project in Chongqing’s New Development Zone.

CCRels HR&RoL

Letter to Minister Wang Jiarui, International Liaison Department of the CCP Central Committee, congratulating him on his recent appointment. I flagged the interest of Canadian Parliamentarians in exchanges with the Department and the anticipated visit of Vice Minister Zhang Zhijun to Canada. The International Department’s outreach activities were hardly limited to Canada: beyond the expected linkages with fellow communist governments – e.g. Vietnam, Laos etc – the ID recently had meetings with parliamentarians from Japan, South Korea and India…albeit with the Communist Party of that country. In all, it boasted Party-to-Party linkages with 140 countries, although we can safely assume that many if not most would be with communist brethren or ‘pour la forme’. Still, it was the mandate of the Government of Canada – and thus the Embassy – to use every accessible venue to explain and promote the principles of human rights and democratic development.

Tibet

Letter to the Director General Suo Long of the Lhasa Foreign Affairs Office, expressing regret for having had to postpone my planned visit to Tibet, because of the need to address the SARS situation. 

Thank you letters to the Japanese and UK Consuls for meeting with me in Chongqing, and the US ConGen for our get-together in Chengdu.

Dinner with Nicolas Sonntag, CH2MHill, most likely inter alia re commercial opportunities on the way to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Friday, April 04

SARS

Conference call with Consuls General, reporting on my discussion with ADM Mulroney.

Various Staff meetings on Program issues. (Life did have to go on…)

BT&I

Meeting with China National Grains and Oil Group (CNGOG) President Zhang Jianhui.

Canadian firms exported canola, canola oil and feed peas to the Chinese market. AgCanada DM had been scheduled to visit Beijing but SARS had put the damper on that – as it would for most other planned visits. I thanked VM Zhang for his active engagement with Canada on files of common interest. He had met earlier in the year with my Embassy colleagues while in Jilin, as well as officials from the Saskatchewan Government. The Canada/China relationship in the agricultural sector was (and remains) of prime importance, something obvious to the President as well. I suggested that we should explore other product areas of mutual interest. One idea for consideration was introducing feed peas as a substitute for corn.

It should be noted that the CNGOG was and remains ‘a private company’, but as President Zhang admitted, the company – at that time – did not have an independent Board of Directors, and its Senior Managers were appointed by the State Council. A reflection of China’s hybrid public/private economy.

Letter from Senator Dan Hays on the proposed visit of Central Committee International Liaison Department’s Zhang Zhijun anticipated visit to Canada.

Not surprisingly, Zhang’s visit was another victim of SARS.

DFAIT

Lettre adressée au Sous-Ministre des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce International  Gaetan Lavertu offrant une mise-à-jour des changements politiques – Président Hu Jintao et PM Wen Jiabao – et surtout la nomination comme Sous-ministre des Affaires Extérieures Li Zhaoxing que Gaetan a connu dans le passé.

Letter to Director General Yi Xiao Zhun of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs regarding amendments to bilateral agreements on CIDA programs.  

SARS notwithstanding, Friday’s Happy Hour in the Canada Club went ahead, celebrating the new facilities that had been installed.

Monday, April 07

MAM focused on SARS

HK reported the number of cases affecting the Special Administrative Region and its impact on the Staff, debating ‘how to live with this’ vs. ‘leaving’. 60% of Staff were now wearing masks. Scheduled meetings and visits were being cancelled.

Shanghai provided similar reporting, with identical debates among CBS. It was also reported that many Canadian companies were closing shop temporarily and repatriating foreign Staffs.

Guangzhou reported that the World Health Organization was visiting the province. It was praising the province for its clinical efforts and the access it was providing to the visitors. There were many indications that SARS cases were increasing but reporting on numbers was still not public information. Three Canadian teachers in Shenzhen may have been exposed to the illness and were self-quarantining. Looking at the situation more broadly, it was reported that the US was implementing voluntary repatriations, with 40% of dependents leaving the Guangzhou Consulate; and half of families from HK office were heading home, related to school closures.

CIDA outlined at the MAM its SARS policy on Agency Staff and contract employees to the effect that all internal travel was banned for the moment, and travel to Canada was differed.

DND and Immigration Canada noted the cancellation of many planned visits and delegations.

I followed the MAM meeting with a discussion limited to Heads of Mission:

  • we needed a better handle on Air Canada and Air China availability of flights for emergency repatriation, if needed;
  • we were concerned about SARS and CBS with chronic ailments as well as pregnancies – two Spouses, if I recall correctly. One, I believe, decided to proceed to Australia where family care was available.
  • check number of ventilators available if necessary for Embassy, Consulate and Staff residences.
  • need for consistent criteria across Missions re triggers and evacuation decisions.

BT&I ChinaPs&Ms

Letter to Chongqing People’s Municipal Government Executive Vice Mayor Huang Qifan in support of Cummins Westport offer of compressed natural gas (CNG0) engines for the city’s bus fleet, in line with the example set by Beijing Public Transport whose fleet of more than 2,000 buses were now powered by Cummins’ engines. 

BT&I

Letter to Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins reporting on decisions of the annual session of the NPC that would be of interest to the BoC. Notably, the Bank of Canada’s key interlocutor, the People’s Bank of China, has been restructured, with responsibility of regulation and supervision of the banking sector moving to a newly created China Banking Regulatory Commission. The PBC retained responsibility for the stability of the overall financial sector and the payments and settlements systems. The Embassy would begin engaging the new leaders in their newish institutions.

BT&I

Letter to Industry Canada Deputy Minister Peter Harder providing him as well with the update on changes emanating from the NPC sessions – greater Government policy attention to the rural economy, social strains arising from the rural/urban transition, unemployment, income disparities. The Embassy will be watching to see if and how the rhetoric is translated into action.

Significant for Industry Canada was the replacement of the State Economic and Trade Commission, one of IC’s key interlocutors, with its responsibilities split between the renamed Ministry of Commerce (formerly Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation) and also newly baptized State Development and Reform Commission (ex-State Planning Commission). These too will require a round of visits and exchanges of business cards in the coming months. Hopefully, Peter will be part of the process.

BT&I

Letter to Len Edwards, DFAIT’s Deputy Minister for International Trade, with substantially the same information as that addressed to Peter Harder.

BT&I

Letter to Yang Xiaowei, General Manager, Chongqing Branch, China Unicom, thanking him for meeting with me and my delegation on March 26. I encouraged him to consider seriously Canadian companies in communications and information technology, including Cell Loc and Nortel.

Mongolia

Exchange with SNC Lavalin regarding their business interests in Mongolia.

Tuesday, April 08

Meeting with Mr. Birat Simha, United Nations Population Fund re Mongolia.

Meetings with Program Managers on SARS responses.

Hosted dinner for Chairman Jiang Enzhu, Foreign Affairs Committee, National People’s Congress.

Regrettably, will have to wait for the release from DFAIT archives…etc etc…

Wednesday, April 09

SARS-related meetings.

Luncheon with Brian Henderson, Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Briefings session for LES, followed by briefing for CBS.

While the Embassy exercised maximum transparency, the implications – some known, most unknown – of SARS differed between the two groups of employees.

Letter to MFA Vice Minister Wang Guangya regarding a Canadian candidate for the post of Chief Executive Officer for the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility.

Attended farewell reception for Italian Ambassador Paolo Bruni and Madame Bruni.

Thursday, April 10

Breakfast meeting with senior Program Managers to discuss SARS.

Held a SARS information meeting for CBS parents of children of 6 years and under. 

Arts

Hosted dinner with musical interlude for senior Government and diplomatic contacts. Thought I would lay out the list of invitees:

Minister of State Administration of Foreign Affairs Experts Wan Xueyuan;  Assistant Minister, MFA, Zhou Wenzhong and Mrs Zhou; VP  Wan Xueyuan, Minister, Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Rodney Palmer, Bureau Chief, CTV; Chairman Richard Liu, Canadian Tourism Commission, Beijing; President Zhang U, China Performing Arts Agency; Netherlands Ambassador Philip De Heer and Mrs. De Heer; Dr. Chen Haohui, President, Beijing United Family Hospital; President Zhang Ping, Beijing Cancer Institute and Spouse Madame Tu Jian. 

The musical interlude was performed by violinist Miss Zhao Yuanyuan and pianist Miss He Mengyang.

Obviously, much of life continued as usual at this stage of the SARS crisis.

Friday, April 11

Meeting with all Canada Based Staff with Spouses for SARS update and Qs&As.

Meeting with the SARS Task Force.

Monday, April 14

MAM

SARS, of course, but with a variety of on the ground responses at this stage of the epidemic. For example, given the absence of visitors, Shanghai was reviewing and updating its ‘core services’ package provided to the Canadian business community, as had been agreed at an earlier meeting of the trade teams.

The annual Guangdong Fair was to proceed as planned, as only N.A. and European businesses were talking about cancelling their attendance.

SARS Task Force meeting, chaired by Minister Holden. 

Exchange with former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed over the cancellation of a planned private visit, with Madame Lougheed, given SARS.

And that, much to my regret, as I had met Mr. Lougheed on a few occasions and enjoyed his company immensely.

ChinaMins&VMs

Hosted dinner for Vice Minister of Public Security, Zhao Yongji and his Wife.

Tuesday, April 15

CCP

Meeting with Vice-President Yu Yunyao of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China.

The Party School, to use its abbreviated name, was and remains the most important training institute for up and coming CCP cadres, as well as a research center for the development of Party priorities and policies. The Central PS also oversees a network of regional Party Schools – by 2024, over 30.

Graduation from a PS is a sine qua non for rising to the upper ranks of the Party, and the Central Party School is the Oxford/Cambridge of the system. Vice-President Yu was relatively open in discussing the current activities of the Party School and – blessedly – I was able to take notes for a change.

VP Yu began by listing some of the major sectoral issues that the PS was studying and as topics for training of the Party cadres: governance and the maintenance of a favorable political environment. More specifically, he defined the issues as Party governance and public sector reform. (Rather broad topics, admittedly.) New challenges he listed as: how to adjust to an evolving international political framework; how to deal with globalization not only as a participant but also as a leader; how to catch-up to the revolution in telecommunications and the information revolution; and how to connect the market economy with socialism. I interpreted these topics more as ‘think tank’ subjects than policy formulations.

As far as training the cadres were concerned, Yu pointed to the challenges of Party building, improving its institutional capabilities and the skills sets of its future leadership, while ‘keeping the connections with the Masses’. He admitted that there is a great deal of public dissatisfaction with the level of corruption within the Party: ‘not easy to fix’.

I asked him about the significance of SARS as an emerging challenge for the CCP and the Government. He replied to the effect that when something goes awry in China, the public blames the CCP. One big challenge to problem solving is the division of responsibilities and work between the CCP infrastructure and that of the Government. These were early days in the struggle against SARS and it wasn’t yet clear how to bring the disease under control. The CCP must still provide the leadership, he said, and control the overall response.

CIDA had significant engagement with the PS, and indeed future collaborative programs were currently under discussion. Poverty alleviation and the environment were PS thematic priorities.

VP Yu stated that his priorities for PS training of future cadres included: how to educate ‘capitalist’ students, which I understood to mean the offspring of Party elites emerging from the economic world that China was building at a very rapid pace and within which CCP elites were gaining wealth along with power; how to shift the CCP leadership ‘from engineers to…?’ (unanswered) and what should be the ‘political civilization’ of China’s Leaders? An impressive list of challenges.

Lunch with Jasper Becker, formerly with and famously fired by the South China Morning Post, subsequent to Hong Kong’s transfer to the PRC.

Evening telecon with David Mulroney and colleagues in Ottawa.

I provided a sitrep on SARS-response policies and priorities in our Missions. The steps taken would have to be in line with the Foreign Service Directives, the ‘labour contract’ dimension of FS working conditions. The first responses of the Chinese Government were beginning to emerge, and I briefed on that. I emphasized the extent of efforts in all four missions to inform CBS and LES staffs of the policies we were putting in place to ensure, as best we and Ottawa could, insuring their protection and that of their families. I also stated that our collective and overall approaches be viewed as a marathon, and not a race: too much was still unknown about how SARS would develop and impact on all of us.

Wednesday, April 16

Lunch with President Lu Zhongwei, China Institute for Contemporary International Relations. Staff took notes.

SARS meeting with CBS.

SARS meeting with LES.

Thursday, April 17

CdaIm&V

Meeting with Immigration Staff re managing impact of SARS on visa issuance, followed by evening telecon with Ottawa on SARS policies, especially regarding student visas.

Friday, April 18

Meetings with Staff on SARS management.

Message to all Canada Based Staff with children, currently in Canada but eligible to return to join their family in Beijing.

The Foreign Service Directives – FSDs in usual parlance – then as now consisted of a set of rules and practices that underpinned the life of Foreign Service Officers, their Spouses and their children while abroad. Among many other things, the Directives then – as they no doubt do now – covered to costs of transiting children and adolescents from where they were doing their studies to rejoin their parents for the summer and other seasonal leaves such as Christmas. While SARS considerations did not change these arrangements, the question of bringing one’s children to Beijing and to our Greater China posts for the looming summer holidays did beg a degree of reflection among their Parents. In the course of discussing this issue, Ottawa confirmed that the rights and privileges remained in effect. My message to the CBS confirmed that fact, but also provided Parents with other facts to consider. For example, the received opinion in Beijing and other affected areas of the Mainland (including Hong Kong) was that the health situation was very likely to get worse before it got better. Adolescents would be faced with the reality that tourist, sports and entertainment areas were largely closed. (The San Li Tun entertainment area would be especially missed.) The downsizing of Embassy activities given the lower number of visitors meant that summer jobs would be few and far between. All that said, the decision on whether to rejoin their families or not was entirely in their hands. Not a fun set of options for many parents and their children.

Attended New Zealand movie night as guest of NZ Ambassador John McKinnon.

As can be noted from the week’s activities, SARS was driving down my usual day-to-day activities and that of other Program Managers and Staffs. Among Senior Managers, there was growing macabre humour: debating where we would bury our cadavers on the Embassy property…in the event…with me as Ambassador claiming the place of honour in the Embassy’s interior garden, next to the fountain.

Saturday, April 19

And in the spirit of the above, visited Ming Tombs during the day, and attended an evening concert of music at the Forbidden City Concert Hall. Given the fears over SARS’ spread, one would expect that the major historical and tourist venues in the Capital Region would be closed to the public. But that was not yet the case: they all appeared to remain open. Consequently, if one was cautious and self-protecting, visiting the Ming Tombs outside Beijing, or the Temple of the Sun, its sister Temple of the Moon and other important historical venues was entirely possible as they remained open…but also largely free of Chinese and foreign visitors, who were exercising their own caution. One could and did spend time at these sites as conditions provided unique opportunities for photographers: for example, people-free – and tai-chi elderly aficionado-free – shots of the Temple of the Sun’s ponds and lotus gardens from the famed Qinghui Pavilion. A noted exception was the Forbidden City which was closed to visitors, regrettably: would have been a unique experience to explore it absent Chinese and foreign tourist crowds.

Monday, April 21

Statutory Holiday: Easter Monday.

Tuesday, April 22

MAM

SARS at the top of the agenda. HK reported that the number of new cases appeared to be diminishing. Nevertheless, the HK SAR was looking at new approaches to limit the spread, including infrared sensors at the border with Guangzhou, temperature checks of incoming and outgoing airline passengers, recommending that business meetings be undertaken remotely which, at the time, would be by phone and emails.

British Ambassador Christopher Hum hosted lunch for fellow Ambassadors. No notes, but the gathering served to compare approaches to SARS in our respective missions, and exchange info on what was happening in Greater China.

Life went on in other ways:

  • meeting with organizers of the scheduled annual Canadian Ball.  
  • hosted dinner at the OR for Erich Meyer, correspondent for Le Devoir and his counterpart, Fréderich Bobin of Le Monde and Mexican Ambassador Ismael Sergio Ley Lopez, a China Hand whose father was a Chinese immigrant to Mexico.

Wednesday, April 23

Telecon with Victor Apps, President/Asia for Manulife/Sinochem Insurance Corporation re corporate/regulatory issues.

Meeting with Keith Bradley, AECL for sit-rep on Qinshan.

Telecon with Timothy Chen: update on business plans and relations with Regulators.

Lunch with President Li Mingde, Institute of Latin American Studies.

Meeting with Vice-Chairman Li Kemu, China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

My discussions earlier with Manulife and Sun Life made for a substantive discussion with the Vice-Chairman and appears to have had an impact. MFC and SL were expanding.

Thursday, April 24

BT&I

Discussion with EDC re business issues.

Telecon with Victor Apps re previous day’s meeting with CIRC Vice-Chairman Li.

BT&I  CdaPs&Ms

Letter to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, congratulating him for the ‘BC Dream Home Initiative’, a program promoting 2X4 wood-based construction, as an entrée to the rapidly growing private home market in China, particularly focused in and around Shanghai. ConGen Stewart Beck and the Consulate were closely involved in the program.

SARS

Conference call with HK/Tony Burger, Guangzhou/Jim Feir and Shanghai/Stewart Beck for SARS update and policy decisions.

BT&I

In the category of ‘life goes on’, hosted dinner for the Director General for North American Affairs, Ministry of Commerce Wang Chao and the Vice Minister of Agriculture Zhang Baowen. Included among the guests were representatives of the Blake, Cassels and Graydon law firm, Susan Lawrence, Beijing Bureau Chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review, Swiss Ambassador Dominique Dreyer and Madame Dreyer, Unirule Consulting Firm Board Chairman Mao Yushi and Madame Zhao Yanling and Minister Robert Mackenzie and Spouse Sandi.

It is not customary to take notes during these social events, but their importance cannot be exaggerated: to state the obvious, you learn things from speaking to other people, and you learn even more when you have them trapped for three or four hours at an interesting (and delicious) dinner prepared by Master Chef Nolan Ledarney. Socializing is the same everywhere.

Friday, April 25

…and speaking of dinner: My dear Wife Kumru co-hosted a TV cooking show featuring our Chef Extraordinaire Nolan Ladarney, rated by my French Ambassador counterpart as the best Ambassador’s Chef in Beijing. (Have I mentioned this earlier? Only once?)

….but that morning…and with much greater solemnity, I attended the annual  ANZAC Memorial Service hosted by at the New Zealand Embassy by Ambassador John McKinnon.

ChinaGov

Meeting with IOC member and Adviser to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games He Zhenliang.

This was a ‘getting to know you’ meeting to establish a regular source of information about Olympic planning and to introduce Canadian companies exploring business opportunities – design, construction, engineering, environmental expertise and so forth.

Attended the Embassy’s Canadian Club Annual General Meeting.

Meeting with Dr. Henk Bekedam, World Health Organization, to obtain his perspective on SARS, from both the medical and China/political perspectives.

Henk was and remains a very impressive figure. His background includes helping rebuild the Cambodian health care system following the devastations of the Khmer Rouge. Repeating myself but to remind: the WHO’s office was and remains located in the same neighbourhood as the Embassy and VHC No. 2, Madame Claudette Bekedam was a professional nurse who provided medical assistance and advice to the Embassy, and did so magnificently. Given the importance of authoritative and credible information about SARS, the WHO played an extremely important role in China during the crisis. But the proximity of their Office and linkages with the Embassy also assured an unbeatable source of knowledge and reassurance to the Embassy Staff. During the crisis, I invited WHO experts several times to speak to gatherings of the CBS and LES. Thus, we had the benefit of informed updates on the progress and risks associated with the epidemic, as well as the most credible information available on risk management, for individuals as well as establishments such as our Embassy and Consulates. I can’t overstate the importance and credibility of the information and advice that we obtained from the WHO, and their willingness to provide it.

Letter to the Secretary General of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, flagging that I had met earlier in the day with members of his Staff and had been very impressed with their professionalism and knowledge.

BT&I

Letter to BC Securities Commission Chairman Douglas Hyndman, congratulating him and his counterparts from Alberta, Ontario and Québec for their success in negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, paving the way for Canadian companies to apply to form partnerships with Chinese fund management and securities companies, thus allowing, ultimately, Canadian companies to become, independently, qualified institutional investors in China.

HR&RoL

Letter to the Executive Director, Canadian Human Rights Foundation, expressing appreciation for accepting the applications of Chinese and Mongolian candidates to attend the 24th International Human Rights Training Program. To remind that human rights, democratic development and good governance, gathered together, were one of the Four Pillars supporting Canada’s relationship with the PRC. The IHRTP training sessions provided by the Foundation were fundamental contributions to achieving Canada’s goals.

Letter to President Theresa Chiang of the Canada-China Child Health Foundation regarding the SARS related postponement of an CCCHF opening event in Qinghai.

ChinaDom  HRRoL

Letter to a Chinese gentleman from a small town in Inner Mongolia, reflecting the real world in which millions of Chinese lived their lives. The text of his letter is as follows, with edits to hide the writer’s identity:

Dear Ambassador,

I am sorry I don’t know how high rank an ambassador is. I only think of you are a native of Canada, friendly to China and Chinese. I hope you and your family are very pleased with living in China.

I am a Chinese, a junior English teacher in the mountains, 48 years old, teaching English more than 20 years. My Wife is also a junior English teacher, working with me. It is very pity that neither of us can speak English well or understand English well, because we have no English TV to watch. My daughter is 18 years old, in a high school, preparing the examination of the universities.

I am an unfortunate man. On September 25, 1983, I was brutally arrested by some political police in my former school in … At that time, I was preparing my wedding.

The simple reason was that I had a penfriend who was also an English teacher in …in China. He once invited me to visit the Tai Shang mountain in Shandong Province so I was on a police charge of organizing the visit…(Edit: the friend was convicted as a counter-revolutionary, as was my correspondent.)

I was forced to try to commit suicide in prison under torture because they coerced me to acknowledging many high crimes that I would tie many innocent people down. I felt like giving up in despair. Fortunately, I read your Canadian Anthem words on the People’s Daily as your prime minister visited China at that time. Your Canadian anthem gave me courage, free imagination and hope, so I decide to give up my preparing for suicide. I stood firm.

It was your national Anthem that saved my life. If the song had not saved me, I would have died of persecution. I will thank her forever.

After two years in prison, the police had to rehabilitate me to my former position. I began to look for the English words and tune of your Canadian Anthem. 12 years passed. I did not find it. I wanted to go to your Embassy and I was afraid that you thought I was an illness of the mind. So I wrote to your new Prime Minister with a short letter and told him that I wanted to hear the song before I was fully deaf, Soon, your Prime Minister sent me the English Words of Oh Canada and tape in 1997.

It is really beautiful song, and I am always in a flood of tears when I hear it every time. The five years passed again, the more old I grow, the more extremely I yearn to see Canada.  I would like to watch Canadian children and many people singing the Canadian Anthem. But my salary is too low to have money to visit your country as tourist, and what is more, I would send my daughter to Canadian university to study if I had enough money….Would your family like to come over to my family? Would you like to see my pupils? I will welcome you if you would. Best wishes to you, to your family, to Canada.

Signed: …

So, how authentic was this letter? The story of persecution is consistent with the time lines which connect to the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a misnomer if there ever was one. Was this some sort of plant? Likely not, but one never knew. I responded with a thank-you for the letter and a promise to visit him and his students in Inner Mongolia, should my travels take me there. And that was it.

LES

Letter to the Gold Harvest Award Selection Committee of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, thanking the Committee for its selection of Commercial Officer Wang Pei as recipient of the Gold Harvest Award. Not entirely a surprise: Wang Pei was among the most dynamic, imaginative and dedicated Staff within the Embassy’s Commercial and Investment Relations Section. Bravo Wang Pei!

Education

Letter to Dr. James Dean, International Liaison Officer, University of Manitoba, confirming UofM’s invitation to a delegation from Henan University. Of great assistance to the Immigration Section, where the authenticity of visa applications always needed to be confirmed.

Saturday, April 26

BT&I

Meeting with Thales Group Chairman and CEO Denis Ranque accompanied by Thales China’s General Manager and staff. Meeting addressed issues between Thales and government authorities regarding the marketing of Thales high technology products for the aviation sector.

Monday, April 28

MAM

SARS update included information such as the following:

HK: outbreak continues; while the number of new cases are declining, the death rates are increasing.

Guangzhou: number of cases also decreasing; the Consulate has modified its in-house work procedures, with most of the Staff present for most of the day.

Shanghai: numbers remain low but expect that cases will continue to increase; authorities are taking ‘draconian measures’, including controls at provincial boundaries. No super-spreaders in evidence. Mission is beginning to develop an action plan based on the assumption of a return to business as usual. For example, if APEC meetings continue apace, it will be proposed to Canadian Ministers participating in these meetings that they extend their stays to conduct bilateral meetings as well with their Chinese counterparts.

Luncheon with Professor and Dean of the Department of Engineering Yuan Si, Tsinghua University.

No notes but in all probability, the subject of discussion was the 2008 Olympics and identifying the most important decision-makers on the design and construction of the facilities.

Meeting re SARS with the CBS and Spouses.

Meeting re SARS with the LES.

…information, information, information, transparency, transparency, transparency…

Tuesday, April 29

Media  Arts&Culture

Meeting with President and Editor-in-Chief Zhao Huayong, China Central Television/CCTV

President Zhao opened with a review of his ambitions at CCTV…admitting at the same time the obligation to generate revenue. This being an era of great change in China, he sought to focus his attention on what he called promoting project development not only in entertainment but in internationalizing news programs through cooperation with others in the business, including Canadian broadcasters. He had met with CBC at Banff this past June, and looked to the Embassy to identify potential partners.

We discussed SARS in general terms. He was in favour of more public engagement with Government, and an expanded role for the non-public broadcasting independent media.

The next day, I followed up with a letter to Bill Atkinson, Executive Director of Business Development, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, regarding the potential for closer collaboration between the CBC and China’s CCTV, China’s national broadcaster. I informed him that I had met with Zhao Huayong, CCTV’s President, and discussed a possible linkage with CBC. I had underlined to President Zhao that it would be important for any cooperation to meet the CBC’s standards on protecting the integrity of any news programing. Zhao had responded by saying that CCTV had reached satisfactory arrangements with other foreign broadcasters, pointing to CNN. As it happened, CCTV’s Vice-President, Luo Ming, would be leading a delegation to the Banff Television Festival in June, and I suggested that this provided an ideal opportunity for the two networks to meet.

A further meeting on the planned Canadian Ball. You have to be ready for anything.

Lunch with Canadian Interns currently involved in projects at the Embassy.

DFAIT maintained a very – I think, excessively –  modest budget for hiring Canadian Interns for temporary work at our Embassies. I believe that we had three at the time. Some Interns go on to join the Foreign Service.

Tibet  HR&RoL

Afternoon meeting with Secretary General Bi Hua, Center for Tibetan Studies, within the United Front Work Department of the CCP. In 2002, Bi Hua had visited Canada as a member of a Human Rights delegation.

When meeting Madame Bi Hua, one could not expect anything other than the standard CPP script regarding Tibet, the good PRC government economic development efforts in the face of the one barrier to Chinese/Tibetan reconciliation: the Dalai Lama irredentism in favour of an independent, non-Chinese Tibet. To the fact that the Dalai Lama had publicly renounced his wish for independence, and indeed had restated it as recently as March 2003 and that there had been no international support for Tibet independence since 1959, there remained, according to Bi Hua,  a list of grievances that contradicted the Dalai Lama’s statements to that effect: the Tibetan Government in Exile was still in place, with no indication that it be disbanded; some Tibetans were still calling for independence; Tibet forms one eighth of China’s total territory, and is in a strategic location, bordering India, Nepal, Butan and Myanmar; Tibet is an underdeveloped region and its people need improved living conditions, which the Chinese Government is addressing. Discussions about discussions were taking place – there were rumours about that the Dalai Lama’s envoys were soon to visit Beijing, but at the time of my meeting with the Secretary General, no dates had been set.

And in any event, discussions are not negotiations, which did not appear likely. China did not appear to consider that it had reasons to compromise its Tibet policies. It would rely on economic development to improve the living standards of Tibetans and reduce the levels of dissatisfaction. It considered that it had no need to allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet and potentially foment opposition to the PRC Government. All of this kept the issue in a form of deep freeze, with little alternative to the status quo.

Late afternoon SARS call with Consul General Tony Burger in Hong Kong.

Wednesday, April 30

Meeting on the CIDA Program Framework with Director Jeff Nankivell.

SARS Task Force Meeting. As an additional step, we distributed once again the SARS Basic Guidelines which had been sent around at the beginning of the month.

SARS ChinaDom

Lunch hosted by Vice President Zhen Gongcheng, School of Labor and Personnel, People’s University/Jinmin Daxue.

To obtain a better grasp of the Chinese government’s response to SARS, the Embassy arranged a call on VP Zheng.

VP Zheng was quite thorough in his briefing. He began by stating the health care system in China is divided in three components: the health insurance system, health services (e.g. hospitals, clinics etc) and the pharmaceutical and medication system. The intersection among these different systems is the subject of constant study, he said. Even in 2003, only 18mm Chinese had the benefit of medical insurance, and among those few, less than 10% were rural residents. He attributed the SARS outbreak in part to the compartmentalization of information among the three components and the refusal among them to share information, as well as the lack of coherence among the central government hospitals, those of municipalities, and those of the military. These divisions were legacies of the planned economy. Another complicating factor: the State Council has responsibility to develop emergency systems to deal with emergencies such as

Re SARS,VP Zhen offered his views on the critical role of political system in dealing with the current crisis. As an example, he explained that 20,000 or so candidates were proposed for the National People’s Congress. Fortunately, the NPC membership was increasingly made up of young professionals who were more inclined than their elders to reforming institutions, which is good news. At the State Council level, where ‘doing concrete things for the people’ was the prime duty, he sensed a commitment to reform the overall health care system. The CCP is a political party, he said: it was up to the highest level of government institutions to approve and implement the necessary policies. He went on at some length describing the institutional interactions that made policy coherence and delivery a challenge. He concluded by saying that his role is as an ‘idea man’ trying to influence a complex system.

What I got out of this meeting did not provide much confidence that the Chinese Government, given its myriad parts, would find it possible, in the short term at least, to put all the policy and institutional pieces together to stamp out SARS. It would in the end, but only in time.

In fact, things were beginning to move. The previous Sunday, April 20th, the CCP had finally gotten around to firing both the Minister of Health and the Mayor of Beijing from their Party Secretary positions. This was five months from the first signs of the epidemic. At least, it was a change in priorities: public health over ensuring a business-as-usual environment that would not detract from the movements of foods, people and capital which China depended on for a good part of its economic growth.

More fundamentally, the Party had been sticking to its control mechanisms, which constrained the domestic media’s reporting on SARS, including the wording used when referring to the disease, censoring CNN reports (something CCTV Zhao had neglected to mention at our meeting the previous day), suppressing any public information and concomitant public actions that could potentially disrupt the outward proceedings of the National People’s Congress meeting in March, classifying documents dealing with SARS at such a high level of secrecy that working level officials did not have access to them, prohibiting the release of any information that could discourage tourism and otherwise affect the economy, and reportedly removing suspected SARS patients from hospitals in advance of visits by WHO officials, and riding them around in ambulances until the WHO officials left.

That foreign reporting on SARS completely contradicted the official lines was moot: the Chinese public did not have access to CNN or the BBC or read my friend Pomfret’s reporting in the Washington Post. From the CCP perspective, the collateral damage to CCP credibility was the cost of doing business.

This would surprise no China watcher, including those of us in Embassies: even at the level of internationalization that China had achieved – globalization, the WTO, the Number 1 spot on the national growth rate hit parade for over a decade, despite all of that change, the CCP remained faithful to its Leninist roots. The pervasiveness of secrecy, the severe limits on transparency, the tension between the Party’s predisposition to rule-by-law – and its twin, rule in the absence of law – remained fundamental to the Party’s functioning.

For it was the Party that ruled, not the government. My notes tell the story: only 2 of the 28 ministerial rank ‘cabinet’ members were at the top of the CCP. The Health Minister ranked 25th out of the 28 positions in the State Council; only one of the members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the summit of the CCP, had served – briefly – as Minister in the national government, and that as Justice minister 15 years earlier.

However, reality had to intrude at some point. Viewed from a purely Chinese domestic perspective, the potential health risks had become of such magnitude, with the possible impact of millions of Chinese travellers for the lengthy May Day holidays just on the horizon, that the Party leadership had no option but to act. SARS was affecting Hong Kong and Southern China most publicly and internationally. Many members of the elites had substantial interests in both in the region. Some economists were saying that SARS could knock off half a percent of China’s GDP growth.

Equally critical was the risk to the credibility of the newly appointed leadership, starting with President Hu and Premier Wen. They were part of what was referred to as the ‘4th Generation cohort’, not ‘new’ in a Western sense – they had been working at the center of CCP power for a decade or two – but still, they were the top Party officials and if they were seen to fail, what would happen next? Blessedly and to the credit of post-Deng China, every member of the top leadership had been practicing scientist and engineers and they would have somewhere in the back of their minds an understanding of the difference between what is real and what is political.

And by the end of April, things began to move: reporting procedures, health protocols and travel restrictions were announced and the sense was that ‘someone is in control’ was beginning to be restored. While the threat of a mass epidemic was real, the fact was that – thankfully – against the immense size of the Chinese population, the number of victims was still small, even if one multiplied the official numbers by two or three. In some ways, the SARS impact was more psychological than medical – not that this provided any reassurance. One could at least hope that it would stay that way.

And if indeed it did, it might be time to start thinking of returning to a post-SARS China and revving up the engine of the Canada-China relationship.

Happily, my files include an unclassified email to DFAIT dated April 30 which starts to look to the future. I am taking the liberty of quoting myself:

For openers, let’s admit that the SARS situation in China, and especially in Beijing, has become serious. There is every reason to assume at the moment that it will get worse, well before it gets better. I do not expect to see the hoped-for message from Health Canada that will give the ‘all-clear’ will come any time soon. This has led to a calamitous cascade of cancellations – how’s that for an alliteration – especially of visits by top Canadian leaders. The Canadians are not the only ones giving China a pass: in the last couple of weeks, Dick Cheney, Tony Blair and Goh Chok Tong have all put off visits – Goh with typical Singaporean forthrightness saying that he was grounded by his doctor.

But during the same two weeks, French PM Raffarin has been here and met top leadership; separately French Interior Minister Sarkozy met with the new Minister of Public Security. The list also includes visitors from the RoK, Serbia, India, DPRK – those guys aren’t afraid of anything – Indonesia, Switzerland and even the US in the person of Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist.

You get the picture.

And all of this at a time when their freshly minted Chinese counterparts are getting into their jobs and aligning their priorities. This has to include assessing which foreign interlocutors are in the game and which are not.

I do not pretend that we can calculate these things but I am convinced that the return on investment on these visits, at this time, is – pick a number: twice? thrice? – what it might be when times return to normal. (Imagine the adulation and political points a foreign leader could have garnered last week simply by flying into Toronto.)

I am making two points: the first is that we should be moving heaven and earth to get MINA here in June. The second is that it is time to consider possible visits by other senior political leaders in the coming months. Health Canada warnings should not be the only part of the decision-making equation…

We do not undertake political visits to show that we are ‘friends of the Chinese’, even less to please a preening Ambassador. We do it to maximize our profile and leverage, so that we can cash these in when our interests are engaged. At a time when many foreign leaders are hesitant to make a move, we should be playing the hand that wins the most chips.

I would like to get this message to Deputies and Ministers themselves. I leave it to you at DFAIT to decide how to do so. But foreign policy and national interest remain valid all the time, and even when they appear to be overwhelmed by other considerations.

Caron

And soon we move into May and what happens next.