The costs of arrogance

So just how effective was PMS' brand of Big Daddy Knows Best foreign relations? Let's leave it to the recipient of one of his lectures and a Canadian business figure to give the answer:

Beijing's top diplomat in Canada suggested Prime Minister Stephen Harper is taking a condescending tone with China on human rights, "pointing fingers" when he should be keeping the direct lines of communication open.

"Acknowledging (the) diversity of the world we share, and learning from each other with tolerance and respect, will prove far more productive for common progress and prosperity than standing aloof and pointing fingers at each other," Ambassador Lu Shumin told a business luncheon...

The Chinese ambassador had suggested that relations between the two countries had been better under previous Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments, because the lines of communication had been kept open.

That policy of pressure via engagement is what Canadian business leaders are seeking again.

"There is irritation between the two sides, we would have liked from business to see the prime minister visit China on his way to Hanoi, as his predecessors have done before," said Neil Tait of BMO Financial Group.

Needless to say, based on this response it looks ever less likely that anything positive actually came out of PMS' much-touted one-on-one APEC sessions - no matter what fairy tale Peter MacKay is going around telling now.

Which isn't to say that Canada shouldn't be pressuring China and other countries on human rights issues, particularly ones as glaring as those pointed out in the article. But if PMS really believes that he can take that discussion into the media (with his usual self-righteous pose) without suffering a severe loss of cooperation as a consequence, then...well, that would make him just as clueless about the realities of diplomacy as his idol to the south. And since Canada (unlike the U.S.) lacks the global hegemon status needed to force other countries to hold their noses and play along, Canadian voters will rightly have to consider whether they're prepared to pay a massive diplomatic price for Harper's grandstanding.