Canada’s Defence Attaché to China B Y WA N D A V I V E Q U I N
At 1.9 metres tall, Colonel David Burke, ’98 EMBA, who is Canada’s Defense Attaché to China and Mongolia, more than stands out in a crowded
e k r u B d i v a D l e n , China A B M E Colo ’98
Oriental market. In fact, sometimes, when the frustrations of living in the world’s most populous country really get to him, he literally takes matters into his own hands.
“China is fairly unique given the fact it is a communist state with the party having many fingers in policy and the di“Chinese people really have rection of the military,” Burke says. China is Canada’s third-largest trading partner and is curno concept of lining up in an orderly way and, every now and then, I have been rently its largest source of immigrants. School of Business Professor Rolf Mirus, who has visited known to physically lift someone back to where they were standing behind me,” Burke, says, that for Canadian exporters, there was no more Colonel Burke says from Beijing. “I tower of a dynamic and challenging market than China. “The dynamics are clear: China’s economy has grown by nearly ten above everyone else so it is not difficult to do,” he laughs. After more than three and a half decades in the Cana- percent annually in recent years.That growth is reflected dian military, Burke has decided to make China his last post- in the fact that, as of very recently, China’s imports have ing and will retire this year. Burke says while he never imag- exceeded her exports with Canadian merchandise exports ined he would spend his entire working life in the military, to that country showing 75 percent growth in nominal value he has no regrets. “I have been remarkably lucky and it has for 1999-2003,” Mirus says. “This means an average growth rate of 16 percent per year,” he adds. been a most excellent job,” he says. For Burke, staying on top of current issues in China and Burke and his Australian-born wife Penny moved to China in 2000, leaving sparsely populated Canada for the crush fostering relations with the military remain top of his list of Beijing and its 14 million inhabitants. Both are fluent in of priorities. One interesting fact he likes to point out is Mandarin and, as active outdoor people, use their free time that China now has more troops involved in the United Nato explore attractions off the beaten track near the city. “We tions peacekeeping forces than Canada. “Our contributions escape to the mountains often and will drive about 60 km to as Canadians are still in demand, but we are no longer the go walking on some of the wilder parts of the Great Wall peacekeepers we were,” he says. As a measure of good bilateral relations, Burke says there are now Chinese students of China,” Burke says. As a trained civil engineer and amateur historian, Burke studying peacekeeping in Canada. Travelling with the Chinese Peoples Libsays visiting this remarkable 4500-mile eration Army (PLA) has been one of the structure built over 2000 years ago to protect the Chinese from northern invasions Burke's main responsi- more unusual experiences for Burke. “The PLA is an army of the Party and is therefore always fills him with awe and admiration. bility is to get to know treated differently than any other organiAs a Defence attaché, Burke is responand understand the is- zations,” he says. “You are talking about a sible for establishing and maintaining remassive entourage of buses and escorts and lationships with the military of China and sues that motivate and travelling with them is much simpler than Mongolia. Canada has no military forces drive the military and trying to navigate through the bureaucracy in the region but does have a strong diploits relations with the on your own,” he adds. matic presence especially in China. Reflecting back on his first visit to China government. 10
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