Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:08:25 EST
Consider This Sentence
The following sentence occurs in The Globe and Mail on Apple News. “China and Russia continue to target Canada for sensitive government and private-sector intelligence and high-tech goods and are seeking to gain a strategic foothold in the Arctic, the country’s spy agency head said Thursday.”
A little long. Unnecessary present participle: seek to gain will do.
I prefer attributions at the start of sentences.
What does and high-tech goods mean in this context? How do you target a country’s goods? Does the writer mean theft of physical objects or intellectual property?
What does a strategic foothold in the Arctic mean? Each nation is limited to exploiting the resources in its own territory. Is a strategic foothold a defensive military presence? Is a strategic foothold an economic stake in Arctic enterprises? I will omit the unclear parts of the sentence.
My rewrite: “According to CSIS director Daniel Rogers, China and Russia strive to exfiltrate Canadian government and private-sector data with particular regard to advanced technology and Arctic development.”