Canadian Former MP David Kilgour Speaks on US Debt, China, and Afghanistan

Canadian David Kilgour did not disappoint the Women’s National Democratic Club (WNDC) when he was their guest speaker.
Canadian Former MP David Kilgour Speaks on US Debt, China, and Afghanistan
David Jones (l), a retired American diplomat, and David Kilgour (c), former Canadian Secretary of State for Asian Pacific, spoke June 15 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. Kilgour is coauthor of 'Bloody Harvest Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,' and Kilgour and Jones are coauthors of 'Uneasy Neighbors.' Jones spoke about U.S.-Canada relations. (Jenny Jing/The Epoch Times)
6/21/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

WASHINGTON—After a stimulating talk, Canadian David Kilgour did not disappoint the Women’s National Democratic Club (WNDC) when he was their guest speaker, Tuesday, June 15, near DuPont Circle in Washington, D.C.

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/kilgour05M.jpg" alt="David Jones (l), a retired American diplomat, and David Kilgour (c), former Canadian Secretary of State for Asian Pacific, spoke June 15 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. Kilgour is coauthor of 'Bloody Harvest Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,' and Kilgour and Jones are coauthors of 'Uneasy Neighbors.' Jones spoke about U.S.-Canada relations. (Jenny Jing/The Epoch Times)" title="David Jones (l), a retired American diplomat, and David Kilgour (c), former Canadian Secretary of State for Asian Pacific, spoke June 15 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. Kilgour is coauthor of 'Bloody Harvest Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,' and Kilgour and Jones are coauthors of 'Uneasy Neighbors.' Jones spoke about U.S.-Canada relations. (Jenny Jing/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1818325"/></a>
David Jones (l), a retired American diplomat, and David Kilgour (c), former Canadian Secretary of State for Asian Pacific, spoke June 15 at the Women's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. Kilgour is coauthor of 'Bloody Harvest Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,' and Kilgour and Jones are coauthors of 'Uneasy Neighbors.' Jones spoke about U.S.-Canada relations. (Jenny Jing/The Epoch Times)
While the WNDC provides a forum where Democrat Party activists gather to study and discuss current issues, foreign statesmen are often invited. A Member of Parliament from 1979-2006 and Canada Secretary of State for Asia Pacific, Kilgour continues to be active on issues of human rights and international concerns.

Kilgour took on the “big” issues confronting the U.S., including the growing U.S. debt, trade with China, the persecution of Falun Gong members, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

U.S. Debt to GDP Growing

Kilgour had harsh words for former President George W. Bush for the massive deficits his administrations brought on by the Iraq War and “two inequitable tax cuts.”

Kilgour warns Americans on the course we are heading: Debt rose to 62 percent of GDP in 2007 and will be 100 percent by 2011. We are on course to attain 150 percent by the end of the decade. His own country of Canada has a debt-to-GDP ratio of only 21 percent. Kilgour is pessimistic about the U.S., which he says may have passed the “tipping point,” of 90 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, in which “real economic growth [is] difficult to achieve,” citing Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff.

China—Exploitation of Workers and Official Violence

While living standards in China have improved along the East coast and in urban areas, the social costs on the Chinese people has been enormous—something that is not sufficiently known and appreciated in the West, according to Kilgour. We should not overlook “continuous environmental disasters, growing social inequalities, widespread corruption and nepotism, and official violence being perpetrated across the country.”

Kilgour said the laborers’ low wages, poor health and safety standards, and families suffering account for the low prices we see. Kilgour pointed out a frequent criticism made of China’s economic miracle. Low evaluation of Chinese workers’ life is the ultimate reason behind the low prices. They are forced to work long hours under dangerous conditions. This alone makes the labor cost low, at the expense of Chinese workers’ health and lives.

The Chinese communist regime artificially suppresses the valuation of the laborers and their lives to entice Western investments, and at the same time, the West acquiesces to its human rights abuses.

Kilgour made a special reference to the horrific persecution of Falun Gong practitioners since 1999.

“Torture, rape, beating to death, detention in labor camps, and brainwashing have become reality for many Falun Gong practitioners across the country. Today, they comprise two-thirds of the torture victims and half of the people detained in labor camps across China. The documented yearly arbitrary killings and disappearances of Falun Gong exceed by far the totals for any other victim group.”

Citing the evidence that he and David Matas, a human rights lawyer and member of the Order of Canada, found on trafficking of organs harvested from thousands of Falun Gong practitioners, Kilgour condemned China for this heinous crime and said it totally “lacks respect for human dignity.”

Taliban and Women in Afghanistan

Kilgour’s views on the Afghanistan conflict were influenced by Dr. Massouda Jalal, Afghanistan’s former Minister of Women’s Affairs and a former presidential candidate, during her visit to Ottawa last week.

Kilgour worries that the “fragile Afghan democracy” and improved status for women will be harmed and undermined by compromising with the Taliban, with whom the Karzai government has been negotiating. Kilgour quoted Dr. Jalal:

“Taliban do not recognize rights and even they don’t recognize women as human beings. Their engagement will be bad news to our values and to the women of Afghanistan. So, I hope it doesn’t happen. We need disempowerment of the Taliban and extremism.”

Kilgour agrees that it is important to guard women’s rights and this will strengthen peace and democracy. “The trend is not looking up,” said Kilgour. More schools are being burned and more female students are being threatened and attacked.

Yet despite his concerns about the Taliban, Kilgour accepts the views of Dr. V. P. Vaidik, a renowned expert on Afghanistan and well acquainted with current and former Afghan leaders and Taliban leaders. Vaidik has convinced Kilgour that the Taliban fighters are not a serious threat if dealt with properly. If all foreign forces were to depart Afghanistan, Kilgour said that the Taliban would crumble—as long as we equipped a large national Afghan army of at least 300,000 and provided a massive dose of economic assistance.