BCBusiness

42 BCBusiness SEptEmBER 2018 turned out to be unfounded. In fact, Nexen shareholders proted handsomely when they sold near the peak, leaving CNOOC with a huge paper loss. Nexen's ghost has returned in the form of hostile questions over state-owned Chi- nese •irm CCCC International Holding's (CCCCI) proposed $1.5-billion takeover of Canadian construction rm Aecon, which the feds blocked this past May. Opponents such as one-time Cana- dian Security Intelligence Service o†cials Richard Fadden and Ward Elcock have warned that Beijing is seeking a role in Canada's infrastructure-building program to spy on Canadians and to steal their coun- try's technoloŽy. Howard Balloch, a former Canadian ambassador to China, called these allegations "specious" and "silly" in a Financial Post commentary. Teck Resources is another Canadian com- pany that has found itself on the defensive over its China ties. In 2016, the Vancouver- based mining giant appointed former Chinese government trade o†cial Quan Chong, then a member of the National Peo- ple's Congress of China (NPC), to its board. Critics called Chong a potential security threat who would look out for China's inter- ests at Canada's expense. Teck countered that his appointment would help the com- pany better understand Asia, especially China's market for natural resources. Two years on, in response to questions about Chong's performance, the company insists that it made the right decision. "Mr. Chong's knowledge of China and interna- tional trade makes him a valued member of our 15-person board," Teck spokesman Chris Stannell says, describing China as an important market. Chong is no longer an NPC member with the expiry of his term at the start of 2018, Stannell adds. So, why would China want to harm Canada, and, if so, how? "That's the thing. What exactly are we talking about?" asks Yuen Pau Woo, B.C.- based leader of the Independent Senators Group in the Canadian Senate. "When I read about allegations of Chinese inltration, I'm always puzzled by the lack of specicity regarding the type of inltration and in¡u- ence that China is supposedly propagating," says Woo, former president and CEO of the Asia Pacic Foundation of Canada. When a foreign investor proposes to acquire a Canadian •irm, Woo asserts, the deal should be assessed on whether it serves Canada's interests. "We should take each case individually, and be very clear about what kinds of threats we consider unacceptable," he says. "We should not dis- criminate against Chinese companies sim- ply because they are Chinese companies or because they're state-owned enterprises." In an interview with BCBusiness before Ottawa nixed the Aecon deal, Yu Shanjun, economic and commercial chief of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver, called CCCCI's proposed takeover "a normal busi- ness deal between two enterprises which should not be politicized. The concept of 'national security' cannot be bound- lessly extended to serve as tool of trade protectionism." Although Canada has every right to subject mergers and acquisitions to secu- rity reviews, Yu said his government wants Chinese enterprises to be treated fairly. Supporters of the Aecon deal claimed it would make the construction company more competitive and give Canadian rms a chance to bid on China's BRI projects. While the Chinese embassy in Ottawa was promot- ing the BRI in a series of events in Canada last year, a Richmond winemaker was lan- guishing in an unknown jail in China. John Chang and his wife, Allison, of Richmond- based Lulu Island Winery were arrested in Shanghai in March 2016. She has since been freed, but he remains incarcerated. In an email, Chang's lawyer, Daniel Brock of Fasken Martineau, said he was not at liberty to discuss the case. In his last public statement, in May 2017, Brock denounced the couple's arrest as "inconsis- tent with international trade law." For his part, Yu hinted that this is not a straight- forward commercial dispute as portrayed in news reports. While Chang's innocence or guilt remains to be proved, the prolonged lack of information about the case and his reported poor health have been a public relations disaster for China, adding to the trust decit it su§ers with Canadians. Despite these concerns, B.C.'s year-old Beijing's power to disrupt the global operations of Chinese companies adds a new dimension to the China threat by putting more businesses, big and small, at risk of being caught up in President Xi's anti- corruption crackdown XINhUA VIA ZUmA wIRE/thE CANAdIAN pRESS

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