The conflict between Google and the Chinese government over censorship and Secret Service penetration of g-mail accounts is seen by a large majority of the COMPAS business panel as a turning point where Canadians and Canadian businesses need to re-think how much the Chinese regime and legal system can be trusted.

Pluralities and majorities of the CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel concur with a long list of allegations of mistreatment and misrepresentation that are being widely circulated. The two allegations that resonate the most are that China gravely mistreats its minorities and that “western business assets in China remain vulnerable to arbitrary treatment for years because of the absence of a strong legal system.” A two-thirds majority also believes that “Chinese banking and financial numbers cannot be trusted.”

Prime Minister Harper has been chastised by the Canadian press in the past for making too much ado about Chinese undemocratic practices and not focusing enough on good relations and good business. For their part, the members of the COMPAS business panel believe that the Prime Minister is more likely have placed too little emphasis on abusive practices than too much.

These are the key findings from this past week’s Internet survey of CEOs and business leaders on the COMPAS panel. The weekly business survey is undertaken for Canadian Business magazine under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

View / Download complete poll in PDF