Overview

For decades, Canada believed it could gently shape China into a responsible global actor through diplomacy, commerce, and cultural exchange. But as this clear-eyed, searing account reveals, it was China that ended up reshaping us. In The Beaver and The Dragon, acclaimed sinologist Charles Burton takes readers inside Canada’s most fateful geopolitical miscalculation. Drawing on a lifetime of engagement — from dorm rooms at Fudan University to behind-closed-doors diplomacy in Beijing — Burton chronicles China’s strategic ascent and the naïveté that allowed it to happen within Canada's political and corporate boardrooms. From Tiananmen Square to hostage diplomacy, this book captures the history we lived through but failed to understand that has allowed China and Beijing's authoritarian model to quitely infiltrate all of Canada's institutions including the halls of parliament. These essays, written in real time across four Canadian governments, expose the illusions of engagement and the emergence of an authoritarian power that seeks to dominate the 21st century at democracy's expense. The essays combined with his new insights expose the sharp power tactics and global ambitions that define Xi Jinping’s China and how Canada has become a proving ground for its totalitarian ambitions. But Burton also leaves us with a challenge — and a hope — that democratic resilience can reclaim the future. His solution for Canadian policy makers and businesses is to understand that China is not interested in friendship for Win-Win trade but rather total dominance and global hegemony at the expense of our nation. With those lessons learned engagement must be about every element of the Chinese regimes internal and external policy dynamics.

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Reviews

Charles Burton is without question one of the world’s foremost China specialist. A former colleague, he has spent decades tirelessly warning about China’s long game. His analyses often read with the intensity and suspense of a thriller writer. I hold him in the highest regard. -- Nathalie Vogel * Research Fellow, Center for Intermarium Studies * This is a sweeping review of Canada-China dynamics since 2009 during which time Professor Charles Burton has been one of the most prominent international commentators on China. As a China expert for more than fifty years, he has a rich understanding of that nation's history, culture and government which informs his observations on the policies and tactics of its leaders. Over the years, his has been one of the strongest voices on human rights in China. His opinion pieces, reflected in this volume, frequently identify occasions over the years when Canada's governments were less than astute when dealing with Beijing, to our own detriment. Fundamentally, Mr. Burton is fiercely Canadian and his commentary consistently points to those opportunities where we can engage with China -- and those where we must protect our economic and national security. Current and future governments of western democracies would do well to heed his advice. -- Margaret McCuaig-Johnston Few people know more about China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s operations, and especially the CCP’s influence, infiltration, intimidation, espionage and transnational repression campaigns in Canada and beyond than Charles Burton. His new book, aptly titled The Beaver and The Dragon, conveys the sometimes innocent, naïve stupidity, and at times wilful blindness, of well-intentioned politicians and government officials in one of the world’s much-loved and most peace-loving democracies in response to the audacious, aggressive, ruthless and repressive intrusion of one of the world’s most brutal democracies into our supposedly innocent, benign free world. In my own research and advocacy, Charles Burton has been one of my gurus. But now is not the time simply to sit at the feet of gurus. Nor is it the time to kowtow to tyrants. Now is the time to stand up, speak up, and fight back, for our values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, in our own countries and beyond, before it is too late. To equip us to do that, read this book. -- Benedict Rogers What's worse than communists in China? That would be communists trying to infiltrate Canada. In The Beaver and the Dragon, Charles Burton, one of the world's most knowledgeable and perceptive China analysts, explains how the Communist Party of China is eying the northern part of the Western Hemisphere. Gordon Chang, Author, The Coming Collapse of China A sharp account of how decades of engagement with China shaped Canada’s outlook — and revealed the illusions behind its foreign policy. A must-read for anyone following Canada–China relations.

Charles Burton is without question one of the world’s foremost China specialist. A former colleague, he has spent decades tirelessly warning about China’s long game. His analyses often read with the intensity and suspense of a thriller writer. I hold him in the highest regard. -- Nathalie Vogel * Research Fellow, Center for Intermarium Studies * A sharp account of how decades of engagement with China shaped Canada’s outlook — and revealed the illusions behind its foreign policy. A must-read for anyone following Canada–China relations.

Author Information

Charles Burton is a distinguished Canadian sinologist and senior fellow at Sinopsis, a Prague-based research platform focused on China’s influence in global democratic systems. A longtime professor of political science at Brock University, Burton has specialized in comparative politics, Confucian political philosophy, and the evolving dynamics of Canada–China relations. He studied at Cambridge University before leaving for Fudan University in Shanghai, where he was among the first Canadian scholars embedded in China’s academic system following the Cultural Revolution. Burton’s career includes diplomatic service at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, where he advised on Communist Party communications and strategic developments. As a columnist and commentator, his analyses have appeared in The Globe and Mail, National Post, The Toronto Star, and international outlets. Fluent in Mandarin and deeply versed in Chinese political culture, Burton brings unmatched insight into the ideology, tactics, and global ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party. Kevin Cavanagh is an editor and former senior executive at Postmedia Network Inc., Canada’s largest print and digital newspaper publisher. Over his 35-year career, he held leadership roles in some of the country’s most influential newsrooms, directing coverage on national politics, foreign affairs, and public accountability. Cavanaugh’s editorial expertise helps bring clarity and cohesion to complex geopolitical narratives, making him an essential voice in shaping this book’s structure and public engagement.

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