Canada’s relationship with China will be respected, trade minister says – National

Ottawa said on Thursday it would maintain a respectful relationship with China, but she warned that Canada’s largest trading partner in Asia had changed.

“The China of today is not the China of the past,” Ng told reporters in Bangkok attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Ng also said it is true that Canada has “had some problems with China” in recent years, particularly on trade. She said that’s why Canada is spending so much time exploring new and expanded ties with the rest of Asia. We are formulating a Pacific strategy.

Difficulties between China and Canada’s Liberal government led to an awkward encounter at the G20 summit in Indonesia this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping blasted Trudeau in an exchange caught on camera by Canadian media.

Xi took issue with Trudeau after the prime minister’s office provided Canadian media with some basic details about a conversation he had with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 on Tuesday.

The PMO shared that Trudeau expressed concern to President Xi about China’s interference in Canada. He also said their discussions included Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea and climate change.

The PMO did not specify the nature of the “interference” Prime Minister Trudeau discussed with President Xi. A recent report in Canada alleges that China interfered in the 2019 election by funding certain candidates, and the RCMP said human rights groups have accused China of operating within Canada’s borders. We are investigating reports of criminal activity related to so-called “police” stations, which they said were

Similarly, the day before Xi and Trudeau met, a former Hydro-Québec employee was arrested and charged with economic espionage for allegedly obtaining trade secrets from the Chinese government.

In the video of the exchange, most of Xi’s comments in Mandarin were translated into English on the fly by an interpreter. He said it would not be appropriate for Trudeau to leak details of the conversation to the media.

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However, another comment not translated into English at this time is what Xi said in Mandarin: Otherwise the results are unpredictable. “

Later, as President Xi walked away, he was heard uttering his final comment in Mandarin, “very naive.”

The exchange is the latest sign that diplomatic relations between Canada and China remain strained, even more than a year after Michael Speiber and Michael Kovrig returned home in September 2021.

The two Canadians had been detained in China since December 2018, in what was seen as retaliation after the RCMP arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport on a US extradition warrant. She returned to China on the same day that the men known around the world as “The Two Michaels” returned to Canada.

Ng said that sharing with Canadians what the government is doing is not only normal, it is necessary, and that the government needs to uphold Canadian values ​​even when it is difficult to do so. I said yes.

“Canadians expect us to share with them what our work is, and Canadians expect us to stand up for our Canadian values,” Ng said. “They expect us to need to be able to have difficult and rewarding conversations.”

Written “readings” giving rough strokes of the topics touched on are usually published, including in China, after formal bilateral meetings.

Both countries released such a statement after Xi met with US President Joe Biden in Indonesia. The Chinese statement was over 2,000 words long.

Informal meetings with leaders at summits, such as those between Xi and Trudeau, rarely have public material, but the Canadian government provides the media with informal accounts of the topics discussed. There are many things.

In Beijing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning dismissed accusations that China is interfering in other countries’ internal affairs. Ning also dismissed suggestions that Xi was accusing or threatening him in his interactions with Trudeau.

“The video you mentioned was a short conversation between the two leaders during the G20 summit. increase.”

Mao says it was Canada that was disrespectful and condescending in this situation.

© 2022 The Canadian Press