Middle Power, Middle Kingdom by David Mulroney

Author:David Mulroney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Canada

CHINA AND CANADIAN WELL-BEING

NINE

Saving Little Fatty

On September 30, 2009, the eve of that auspicious National Day that I described earlier, Janet and I were invited to a reception in the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. Each year on that day, China’s premier delivers a short state-of-thenation address to the great and good of Chinese society, and to foreign guests, including the diplomatic corps. Ambassadors in their first year have the added privilege of attending a brief meet-and-greet with the premier before the speech. Then, during the speech, they are seated in the front rows among the Chinese celebrities. Like other new ambassadors, I had by this time already called on the Chinese president to present my credentials (a short letter to the president from the then governor general, Michaëlle Jean, introducing me as Canada’s ambassador).

My session with the premier was not a one-on-one meeting. The newly arrived ambassadors lined up in alphabetical order before each of us was summoned for a brief conversation with the evening’s host, something that provided just enough time to extend greetings, make a pleasant comment and move on. Chinese protocol typically leaves nothing to chance. We had been instructed to say no more than two sentences, something I planned to do in Chinese to spare the interpretation time. As I walked up, the chief of protocol turned to the premier and said, “This is the new Canadian ambassador. He speaks very good Chinese.” That’s an overly generous accolade in my case, and one that you will hear from the ever-courteous Chinese even if you’ve struggled to string the words for “thank you” together correctly. The premier’s weary face tightened at this prospect, but I kept it short, taking less than a minute to give him greetings from the prime minister and the people of Canada, remind him that we were marking the seventieth anniversary of the death of Norman Bethune, and express the hope that he might visit Canada soon. His face brightened, and I was moved on.

I rejoined Janet as guests surged into the main hall. Giant Chinese basketball players chatted with tiny gymnasts. Grizzled veterans of the civil war shuffled past tycoons in expensive suits. The silver and gold of elaborate headdresses, flashing here and there, testified to the presence of people from China’s ethnic minority regions. A large crowd buzzed around a table full of fit and confident young men and women: China’s astronauts!

Our table was much more sedate, featuring an older and quieter collection of scholarly looking men and women. They were, we quickly learned, China’s most distinguished doctors. As we made our introductions, it was easy to see why we had been seated at this particular table. Most of the doctors had done some training in Canada, and all of them had at least some current connection with a Canadian university or research institute. Their presence reminded me of continuing connections in a sector that has always been central to our relationship with China. Canadian doctor and activist Norman Bethune is undoubtedly our most high-profile medical ambassador.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.