International Trade Minister Mary Ng said Canada will maintain a respectful dialogue with China, even as she warns that Canada’s biggest trading partner in Asia has changed.
Ng’s comments come a day after a terse exchange at the G20 summit in Indonesia between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The day before, Mr. Trudeau had been rebuffed by the Chinese president for having given the media some details of their exchange the day before, on the sidelines of the meeting.
The Prime Minister’s Office said Trudeau had raised concerns with President Xi about Chinese interference in Canada.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday that the president did not criticize anyone when he approached Trudeau, adding that it was Canada who was being disrespectful and condescending.
Ms. Ng, who is with Prime Minister Trudeau in Thailand for meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, acknowledged that Canada has had difficulties with China, but that the federal government will always try to have conversations. respectful with Beijing on important issues.
Condescending criticism
On Thursday, Mao strongly denied that China has interfered in the internal affairs of any other country. She added that Canada was responsible for the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
According to her, Canada should take concrete steps to improve relations. During her daily press briefing, she mentioned that the spontaneous discussion on Wednesday, which was captured by cameras, was “completely normal” and that it “should not be interpreted as a criticism or reproach of the President Xi towards anyone”.
Mao, however, argued that Canada had clearly disrespected China on this issue.
“China has no problem having cordial conversations with other countries, but we expect this dialogue to be done as equals and with mutual respect, rather than condescendingly criticizing each other,” she decided.
Speaking to Mr. Trudeau in front of the cameras, President Xi had criticized the prime minister for having shared the subjects discussed privately with the media.
“Everything we talked about leaked to the media, it is not appropriate, denounced the Chinese Prime Minister. And the conversation did not go like that. »
At that point, Mr. Trudeau interrupted Mr. Xi and resumed speaking to say, “We believe in free, open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have. We will continue to seek to work together constructively, but there will be things we will not agree on. »
“Let’s establish the conditions first,” President Xi replied through a translator.
Not a threat, says China
Although she accused Canada of being condescending, Mao said President Xi’s remarks should not be seen as threats.
“As you can see in the video, I believe it is quite normal for two leaders to have a brief conversation during the G20 summit. The two clans only clarified their position,” she explained.
Mr. Trudeau spoke for the first time with Mr. Xi at the G20 summit on Tuesday, privately. A senior Canadian government official told reporters that the pair spoke about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea and climate change.
The Prime Minister also reportedly raised his “serious concerns about interference activities in Canada”.
Asked about the confrontation later at a press conference, Trudeau said, “Not every conversation will be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important to Canadians. »
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly also said she discussed Chinese interference with her Chinese counterpart at the G20.
Ms. Joly noted last week that China is an increasingly disruptive global power and warned companies to think carefully before deepening ties with China, due to “geopolitical risks”.
Deterioration of relations
China-Canada relations crumbled after China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Huawei Technologies chief financial officer and daughter of the company’s founder, Meng Wanzhou, following a request US extradition in December 2018.
Both Michaels were returned to Canada last year, the same day Ms Meng returned to China after reaching a settlement with US authorities.
Canada then banned mobile operators from installing Huawei equipment in their 5G networks, joining its allies in avoiding the company which has close ties to the ruling Communist Party and its military wing, the Army. popular liberation.
China has described the charges against Huawei and Ms. Meng as a politically motivated attempt to curb China’s economic and technological development.
More recently, Canadian police on Monday charged a Hydro-Quebec employee with espionage for allegedly sending trade secrets to China.
Earlier this month, Radio-Canada closed its bureau in China after requests for a new journalist to settle in Beijing were met with a month of silence from Chinese authorities, according to the news company. State.
President Xi’s seemingly off-the-cuff remarks on Thursday marked a rare display of public candor from the usually quiet veteran politician.
Known as an ardent nationalist who has vowed to always put China’s interests first, Xi was recently granted a third five-year term as head of the Communist Party.
In another such incident during a visit to Mexico in 2009 when he was vice president, China mentioned to Chinese students: “There are a few foreigners with full bellies who don’t have nothing better to do than try to point fingers at our country. »
“China does not export revolution, hunger or poverty. China doesn’t give you headaches either. What do you want more ? said Xi.