In Ottawa these days, it seems very difficult to relaunch relations between Canada and China. In fact, it is especially difficult to understand what the government’s position is vis-à-vis China.
Until recently, there were three centers of power that spoke on this issue: the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was already not very easy to see clearly. Recently, a new actor was added, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. And his intervention confuses things instead of clarifying them.
Although trade between the two countries has never been so flourishing, political and diplomatic relations are practically at a standstill. The break came in 2018 when China arrested two Canadian citizens, both “Michaels”, after Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive at the request of the United States. To make matters worse, the relationship soured when the Canadian government accused China of interference in its electoral processes.
The tension between Beijing and Ottawa is part of a broader context of friction between Westerners and authoritarian regimes. China’s regional ambitions in Asia and Russia’s war in Ukraine would undermine the liberal world order. The new geopolitical environment is forcing Western countries to review their relations with these powers.
Cacophony
The Trudeau government is well aware of the importance of China in the international system, but it cannot find the formula that would open dialogue. And for good reason: cacophony reigns at the highest level. The prime minister has a terrible relationship with President Xi Jinping, and the two leaders are unable to meet. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland adds more. Last year, in Washington, she presented “her” foreign policy by classifying China among the evil powers against which Westerners must erect a wall to protect themselves.
A year later, last November, before the Montreal Council on International Relations, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, came to say the opposite. “We must resist the temptation to divide the world into rigid ideological camps,” she said. We cannot afford to close ourselves off to those with whom we disagree. » There was reason to hope for the beginning of a dialogue between Canada and China… until the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Wayne Eyre, stepped in.
In a public document — which no one in Ottawa or in the research centers took the trouble to read, except a journalist from the Citizen who revealed its content – the general advances “his” foreign policy. For him, there is good and evil, black and white. On one side, Russia and China, on the other, us. According to the general, the war between the two camps is there for anyone who wants to see it. “The hostile intentions and actions of our adversaries demonstrate that they consider themselves at war with the West,” he writes. We must accept this reality and act accordingly. »
I was surprised by the martial tone of the statement. If we can consider that Russia is at war with the West (and vice versa), is this really the case for China? I have read all the speeches of the foreign ministers (I even wrote a few) and the prime minister as well as the policy statements (like the Indo-Pacific strategy) since the Liberals were elected in 2015 and I have never found such a characterization of relations between China and Canada.
So I asked the chief of staff’s office if he spoke on behalf of the government. I was told that he advised the Prime Minister on military affairs. I then turned to the Department of Foreign Affairs to find out if the government considered that China was at war with Canada. Without being directly answered to my question, I received a long development of more than 25 lines on Sino-Canadian relations, rather embarrassed. The ministry reiterates Canada’s desire to remain “firm and determined to defend its principles and interests in its interactions with China” while emphasizing the need to collaborate to find solutions to global problems.
Some might believe that this is just a semantic dispute. It is not so. We are going through a very delicate period in international relations and every word must be weighed seriously. If Canada considers that China is at war with it, then this statement must be found in all the speeches of our leaders and in all policy statements on China to reflect this observation.
While we wait for Ottawa to find a policy on China, our allies are moving. French President Emmanuel Macron is entitled to a state visit to China. Joe Biden and Xi Jinping meet and American ministers jostle in Beijing. Australian Prime Minister visits China to renew relations after seven years of tension. European leaders are holding an EU-China summit on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 December. If not a return to normal, it looks like a thaw. Without Canada.