Charles Burton

Associate Professor specializing in Comparative Politics, Government and Politics of China, Canada-China Relations, and Human Rights

Phone: +1-905-329-9477
To set up a meeting or interview with me, please click here: http://doodle.com/Chas.Burton
SMS: +1-905-329-9477
Voicemail: +1-530-678-9476
Email: charles.burton@brocku.org
Office: Plaza 353
MSN, Yahoo, Google: cburton001; Hushmail: Burton; Skype: cburton002
Fax: +1-209-231-4087
Blog:  http://charlesburton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cburton001

 Web Site: http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~cburton

Course outlines: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1dRr0-EHKMEYnU7DlDjX31mQtWNmL5eyTna0sLRWc5-o

Education

University of Toronto Ph.D. (1987) Thesis: "Political Authority and Value Change in Post-Mao China" supervised by Bill Saywell and then Victor Falkenheim (after Saywell moved to SFU)
1978-81 Department of Philosophy, Fudan University
Thesis: "Daoist Philosophic Thought and Materialism", supervised by Yan Beiming
1976-77 Faculty of Oriental Studies, Cambridge University (Pembroke College)
1974-76 Trinity College, University of Toronto, B.A.(hons)

Research Interests:

The fundamental question that I seek to resolve is how to alleviate poverty and to realize human rights in the context of repressive structures of political power and cultural legacies at cross purposes to liberal norms. Most of my work is on Chinese domestic and international politics and on the foreign policies of advanced industrialized nations toward China.

Selected Publications:

* "Response to Jeremy Paltiel's Article, 'Canada and China: An Agenda for the Twenty-First Century: A Rejoinder to Charles Burton'" Canadian Foreign Policy, vol. 15, no. 2, 2009, pp. 118-22. (http://www.carleton.ca/cfpj/Without%20subscription/15-2Burton.pdf). Paltiel's article in the same issue (http://www.carleton.ca/cfpj/Without%20subscription/15-2Paltiel.pdf) is a commentary on my refereed report A Reassessment of Canada's Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada's China Policy that was released by the Canadian International Council in 2009 (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcfd6fxz_2036d2s9p9fm).

* “Neoauthoritarianism, urban bourgeoisie, and China’s democratization” in Wu Guoguang and Helen Lansdowne, eds. Zhao Ziyang and China’s Democratic Future, London and New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 122-134.

* “The 'Beijing Consenus' and China's quest for legitimacy on the international stage" in André Laliberté and Marc Lanteigne (eds), The Chinese Party-State in the 21st Century Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2008 pp. 146-161.

* "A 'Principled' Approach, Quiet Diplomacy and Harper’s Message to Beijing" Embassy: Canada's Foreign Policy Newsletter, published November 14, 2007.

* "Assessment of the Canada-China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue”, released by Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in May 2006 (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcfd6fxz_20377xgvk2zb).

Podcast of my Lansdowne Lecture "The past, present and future of Canada-China relations" delivered at the University of Victoria on November 20, 2009 can be found at: http://www.capi.uvic.ca/events/past-present-and-future-canada-china-relations.  The full text of the lecture can be read at: http://www.capi.uvic.ca/sites/capi.uvic.ca/files/users/user3/CC_Lansdowne_Charles_Burton_Paper.pdf.

My Op-Ed "Stephen Harper's New Trade Rules Safeguard Canadian Interests" published in globeandmail.com on December 8, 2012: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/stephen-harpers-new-trade-rules-safeguard-canadas-interests/article6136355/

My Op-Ed "Tired Communists put China's hopes to sleep" was published in the Toronto Star on November 14, 2012, p A23: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1287357--china-s-communist-rulers-disappoint-hopes-for-change

 My Op-Ed "CNOOC's bid for Nexen is a key move on China's global chess board" was published in the Toronto Star on August 23, 2012: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1245718--cnooc-s-bid-for-nexen-is-a-key-move-on-china-s-global-chess-board

My op ed "The party will write the narrative for Ms. Gu – and for Nexen" was published in the Globe and Mail on August 6, 2012: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-party-will-write-the-narrative-for-ms-gu-and-for-nexen/article4461171/?cmpid=rss1

Op-Ed co-authored with Neil Desai "Promoting pluralism abroad must be a foreign policy pillar" was published in the Globe and Mail on April 13, 2011, p. A21: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/promoting-pluralism-abroad-must-be-a-foreign-policy-pillar/article1982544/

Op-Ed “Hu Isn’t China” was published in the Globe and Mail on January 20, 2011, p.A19: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/hu-isnt-china/article1876446/

Op-Ed "North Korea can always count on China" was published in the Toronto Star on November 28, 2010: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/897728--north-korea-can-always-count-on-china It also appeared in the Vancouver Sun on November 30 under the title "China will steadfastly support North Korea": http://www.vancouversun.com/news/China+will+steadfastly+support+North+Korea/3903884/story.html  It can also be found at http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=3903884&sponsor= and in the Calgary Herald http://www.calgaryherald.com/mobile/story.html?id=3903884

Op-Ed "The Dalai Lama's Elusive Dream" was published in the Toronto Star on October 22: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/879416--the-dalai-lama-s-elusive-dream.  It was published in the Montreal Gazette under the title "China seeks to silence the Dalai Lama's moderate voice" on October 22: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/China+seeks+silence+Dalai+Lama+moderate+voice/3713838/story.html.

 Op-Ed "Economic Titan China Needs To Act Like A Leader" was published in the Toronto Star on June 17, 2010: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/824570--economic-titan-china-needs-to-act-like-a-leader. It was also published in the Edmonton Journal on June 23 as "China's new prominence brings new responsibilities": http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/China+prominence+brings+responsibilities/3189521/story.html and in the Halifax Chronicle Herald as "China needs to act like a leader" http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1188657.html

Op-Ed "A more sophisticated engagement with China" appeared in the Globe and Mail on November 30, 2009 (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/for-a-more-sophisticated-engagement-with-china/article1380765 or http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/a-more-sophisticated-engagement-with-china/article1382180 the latter with expanded text but without illustration of cute cartoon of panda and beaver sitting together).  Here are a couple of minor editing errors in the text in the Globe. First is that China does not have a "Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation" It has a Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are International Cooperation offices in other ministries that Canada engages. The other is that Australia had a trade imbalance with China of 1.53:1 in 2004. Today it is 1:1.
An expanded and improved version of  this Op-Ed appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on December 1 under the title "How to deal with China" (http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/deal+with+China/2288079/story.html) on December 2. The same version under the title "It's time for Canada to rethink the way it engages China" appeared in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on December 2 (http://thechronicleherald.ca/forum/read/16/154953/154953). December The same version with the minor editing errors that was published in the Globe and Mail appeared in the Vancouver Sun on December 10 entitled "Canada's China policy needs a major overhaul" (http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Canada+China+policy+needs+major+overhaul/2324988/story.html)

Op-ed "Tiananmen: 20 years later, suppression still reigns" was published in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on June 4, 2009. It can be read at: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1125512.html.  My original title for this piece is: "The June 4th Anniversary and Canada-China Relations"

Op-Ed "Sino-Canadian relations on slow boat to nowhere" was published in the Toronto Star on March 6, 2009.  It can be found at http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/597365.