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Michael Kovrig
6,194 posts
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Michael Kovrig
@MichaelKovrig
Founder/CEO/writer/analyst/advocate/ex-diplomat | Senior Adviser, ICG | China/Indo-Pacific/geopolitics/geoeconomics | Don't start none, won't be none 己所不欲,勿施於人
www.linkedin.com/in/kovrig
michaelkovrig.substack.com
Joined November 2014
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  • Pinned
    user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    May 5
    Western leaders keep going to China, hoping relations can be stabilized. Instead, they get harmonized—into serving the Communist Party’s agenda and propaganda. As accommodation gets normalized, interdependence is weaponized. Next week it’s Trump’s turn. Will he get trapped in the
    Trump’s China Trap
    From foreignaffairs.com
    36K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Oct 8, 2021
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Sep 24, 2022
    A year has now passed since my return from China. I've appreciated every day of liberty. To understand what happened, read this @KennedyCSIS commentary:
    Beijing Suffers Major Loss from Its Hostage Diplomacy | CSIS
    From csis.org
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Mar 8, 2024
    Governments must reinforce the basic international norm that responsible states don’t abduct each other’s citizens. My latest for @POLITICOEurope : #arbitrarydetention #hostagetaking
    China’s abductions of foreign nationals should carry costs and consequences
    From politico.eu
    588K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Mar 31, 2025
    Two weeks ago #China executed four #Canadian citizens and halted billions of dollars in imports of Canadian agricultural products. Last week, China's ambassador to Canada said he wants to move the relationship forward. Confused? 🤔 In a March 25 discussion on CBC's The Current
    46K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Jul 14, 2025
    Chinese analysts and diplomats are saying that Canada, under pressure from US tariffs, should tilt toward China. The implicit deal: kowtow to the Chinese Communist Party in return for economic benefits, sacrifice Canadian manufacturing for agricultural exports. It’s a devil’s
    GIF
    46K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Jun 15, 2023
    Can’t imagine how an infrastructure bank created by the CPC could possibly be heavily influenced by it…🤨
    The sign of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is pictured at its headquarters in Beijing, China July 27, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
    Canada freezes ties with China-led AIIB, probes allegations of Communist domination
    From reuters.com
    35K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Sep 23, 2023
    Read this excellent feature by @Justin_Ling to understand how and why Beijing’s actions have driven China-Canada relations into a downward spiral, despite Canadian elites’ reluctance to get serious about responding:
    Why Did Trudeau Dawdle on Chinese Election Meddling?
    From foreignpolicy.com
    114K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Oct 7, 2024
    Then they came for the teachers… Now the #CCP is restricting foreign travel for educators, much as it already does for Party-state officials and ethnic minorities. Why? To “protect” them from “Western spiritual pollution”, control their lives and thoughts, and prevent them from
    user avatar
    FT China
    @ftchina
    Oct 6, 2024
    China demands schoolteachers hand in their passports on.ft.com/3NcMKGi
    72K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Oct 16, 2025
    What does it mean to have a "correct" perception of China? Beijing's diplomats have been using that phrase a lot lately. In a new op-ed for the National Post and more detailed Substack post (linked in the comments), I decode the Party-speak behind the charm offensive to explain
    100K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Apr 28, 2025
    Open societies need to do more to safeguard themselves against the 🇨🇳 #CCP's transnational repression, elite capture and foreign interference and influence, I told columnist Douglas Todd on a recent visit to the West Coast
    Michael Kovrig comes to Vancouver: 'Ground zero' for his detention in China
    From vancouversun.com
    25K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Aug 16, 2023
    A key tenet of Confucianism is benevolence. Find the humanity remaining in your shrivelled #CPC souls and just let her go home to her children.
    Journalist Cheng Lei is seen smiling while seated with the Shanghai waterfront in the background.
    Ten hours of sunlight per year: Australian Cheng Lei's first message from Chinese prison
    From abc.net.au
    35K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Jul 24, 2025
    China executed 4 Canadians earlier this year. Why? And why does it matter? Domestically, the point is to intimidate Chinese citizens by showing remorseless power and authority. For foreigners, the message is: “demonstrate subservience and we’ll stop doing harmful things.” My
    265K
  • user avatar
    Michael Kovrig
    @MichaelKovrig
    Nov 26, 2023
    How #geopolitics caught up with #Canada: Canadians aren’t used to thinking geopolitically, I told @Dimi, but that’s going to be essential for the country to protect itself, maintain influence, and prosper in an increasingly complex and hostile world. Canada’s urgent challenge is
    94K