I'm John Batchel with my good colleagues, Gordon Chang and Charles Burton, commenting on

the People's Republic of China's Overture to Canada, come join with us, even though you're

attached intimately to the United States and have been through your history and you share a

continent and you have the best of borders

and you smile at each other all the time and play hockey together, come join us.

But, gentlemen, I ask puzzlingly, the People's Republic of China has been spending money

lavishly for many years and boasting about it, to make friends around the

world, especially in adversary camps to the United States. I name Tehran, I name Caracas,

I name Havana. That's enough, but it's a beginning. And where are they these days with

the turmoil in Tehran and them said to be thousands casualties,

body bags all over the floor of gymnasiums as family search for their loved ones.

And in Caracas, we have a momentary pause between removing the brutes, but there's a huge

piece out of London today about the

torture chamber that's on the hill in Caracas. And 800 people disappeared. We're not looking at

angels left behind in Marifloris, Havana that's self-evident. So I come to both of you. Where is China?

And what kind of foreign policy is this, that they run away from their investment

and their collegial relationship to brutes?

Charles, do you have a comment on this?

Well, I mean, I think certainly China has been very important to both Iran and Venezuela,

buying Iranian oil in large quantities to sustain that regime.

And with regard to Venezuela, massive financial supports and purchase of 80% of Venezuela's

oil output, even though it's only about 4% of what China imports.

...