Comunidad del pacífico en perspectiva - Volumen 2

LA CoMUNIDAD DEL PAcfFlOO EN PERSPECI1VA I F. OrregQ Vicuña '!\Te share a European colonial background. ,Canada was first a co– lony of France and then of Great Britain, whence carne most of our people and also much of our political, economic, and social heritage. As a result Canada has tended naturaIly to look acrOSi the Atlantic in terms of our outlook OQ life and our traditions. Latín America, likewise, has looked towards Europe in much the same way, although achieving independence much earlier than Ca– nada: by a good 100 years. In addition, both Canada and Latín America have had broad and sustaíned relationshíps, not always happy, with the United States. I recaIl a quip, in this respect, by our former Prime Mini~­ ter, Mr. L. B. Pearson, who once suggested to the then Foreign Minister of Mexico that one way of solving our mutual problems with the United States would be to dig a tunnel under that coun– try! But I digress. By 1867, Canada had obtained independence from Britain in domes tic affairs, although Canadian external relations continued to be directed from London. This situation prevailed down to the 1920's. Chairman Mao once observed, in a celebrated apho– rísm, that polítical power emerges from the ban'el of a rifle. It was Canada's heavy engagement in the first World War that pro– vided the catalyst for independence from Britain during the 1920's. That decade witnessed the development of the Commonwealth as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other former British colo– nies achieved fuIl sovereignty. Throughout this period, there were sorne contacts between Ca– nada on the one hand and China, Japan an other Far Eastern re– gions on tlle other, but they were relatively few in terms of what they are today. Political relations were non-existent. Trade was modest. For instance, in 1900, the major Japanese export to Ca– nada was teal I doubt whether very much tea now reaches Cana– da from Japan. Rather, it is automobiles, transistor radios; calcu– lators and T. V. sets. Our largest single export to Japan has for many years been coa! followed closely by cereals. Actually, Canadian relations with Australia and New Zealand were much more sustained at the time, largely because of the Bri– tish connection of course, but also because of the complementari- 90