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During a recent seminar UBC’s forest sciences centre, Grizzly’s main seminar centred on the Chinese efforts to globalize the renminbi, China’s currency. Canada has the first renminbi trading hub in North America.

Wang Yingming, partner at Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund and researcher at the Institute of Urban Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, urged overseas Chinese communities to get on-side with Beijing economic programs, such as the high-profile One Belt, One Road project across Asia to Europe.

“It’s important that you don’t miss this train, because once it leaves, it’s gone,” Wang said of One Belt, One Road, which he identified as key to Beijing’s strategy to globalize the renminbi, as it has the potential to create a unified market across the Eurasian continent. “Once that market is unified, it would because the biggest economic force on the planet. … Money and investment comes from the flow of people and commodities, and once Europe and Asia are connected, Europe naturally has to deal with renminbi more substantially.”

Wang also framed the current disputes in the South China Sea as a reflection of Washington’s defensive policies against the rise of renminbi through One Belt, One Road: “What we see in the South China Sea, on some level, is not China disturbing the peace, but rather a reflection of the uneasiness coming out of the U.S.”

King disagrees.

“Of all the Chinese claims I’ve heard on U.S. foreign policy objectives, that’s one of the more ridiculous,” he said. “Obviously, we are not out to back or push (One Belt, One Road). We didn’t join (China-led infrastructure bank) AIIB, and — as I might point out, Canada didn’t either, although that might change — but we are not going to change national foreign policy objectives to counter it. It’s just not worth it.”

Zhang said that Grizzly hopes to bring perspectives different from the mainstream western thinking on China’s economic strategy.

“In mainstream stream of thought, the perspectives of Prof. Wang is not common here,” he said. “But why we’re happy to invite him to share his views is because, as we move toward a common perspective, we need to hear more voice from more people. That’s how you promote progress and move forward.”

chchiang@postmedia.com