We have to do business with China – get over it

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BC Ferries recently announced it had selected a Chinese state-owned shipbuilding company to build four new boats for its fleet.

A joyous reception the news did not receive.

The provincial NDP government has come under attack for allowing its quasi-independent corporation to make a deal with what critics say is a brutal, murderous, dictatorial regime. Hard to argue with that. Also, a Chinese government that not long ago detained two innocent Canadians for nearly three years and used them as political pawns.

So, let’s cut off all deal-making with them once and for all, shall we?

Then again, maybe not.

Premier David Eby is being blamed for allowing the outsourcing of the construction of these vessels, as opposed to directing the contract to local shipbuilders. Yet, the biggest shipbuilding company in B.C., Seaspan, is so busy it doesn’t have the capacity to take on the project. Even if it did, it couldn’t compete with Chinese prices. (In fact, there were no Canadian bids for the contract – period). The NDP has rightly been criticized for failing to act on a promise made years ago to expand the shipbuilding industry in the province and make it a global force. That hasn’t happened.

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BC Ferries looked at European shipbuilders, which it has used in the past, but this contract would have cost $1.2-billion more than what it is paying the Chinese vendor. If you were to ask the average B.C. taxpayer whether they’d prefer debt-ridden BC Ferries to select the moral choice in Europe over the ethically dubious option in China – at a cost of an extra billion dollars – I think I know what the answer would be.

Sorry, Europe.

China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner behind the U.S. In 2024, we exported $30-billion worth of products to China, including canola, petroleum oils, wood pulp, iron ore and seafood. It is now the biggest purchaser of oil from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The many things we import from China, to the tune of $87-billion last year, is just as vast.

With relations with our largest trading partner in flux (if not complete disarray, thanks to Donald Trump), no responsible national or provincial government is going to stop doing business with the Red Dragon. It would be wonderful to have the luxury of not doing deals with the Chinas or Indias or Saudi Arabias of the world on ethical grounds. Unfortunately, there are lots of bad actors out there that we have little choice but to do business with.

You could put the U.S. into that category as well. It hasn’t been immune from starting wars on dubious grounds that have led to the deaths of thousands of innocent people (hello Iraq) or from taking part in extra-judicial killings outside the U.S. The CIA has admitted a role in murdering or aiding in the murder of political leaders around the globe.

In the world of realpolitiks, stuff happens. Often ugly stuff.

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This is not to say we shouldn’t be extra vigilant with China (and India and others) and lay down important ground rules for future trade relations. We can’t be naïve about their global intentions, and we can’t be soft about our rules of engagement. But to think we are going to stop all trade and business with China because of the bad things they do is to be guileless in the extreme. China is the second-largest destination for B.C. exports. Those exports will soon include natural gas from LNG Canada’s operation in B.C. – which, by the way, is 15-per-cent owned by PetroChina.

The United States considers China to be its biggest threat, and yet Mr. Trump just concluded a new trade deal with them. There is simply no escaping the fact that China’s investments and advances in manufacturing have allowed it to flood the world with inexpensive goods. It now has more factory robots than the rest of the world combined.

The technology giant Huawei has a campus with enough labs to house 35,000 scientists. The country is doubling down on AI-driven innovation. The flow of products from China will soon become a tsunami.

Which brings me back to the BC Ferries decision. It’s okay to be angry that the work the corporation needs done won’t be completed right here in Canada. Blame the NDP for not fulfilling its promise to substantially expand the province’s shipbuilding capacity. That’s fair.

And yes, in a perfect world you wouldn’t award a contract to a country with a human-rights record like China’s. But the simple fact is, China is a country we have little choice but to deal with – today, tomorrow and the many days after to come.