Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said that the economic relationship between Canada and China is “significant” as China’s foreign minister Wang Yi begins a three-day trip that may include meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Canadian journalists weren’t permitted to ask questions on her remarks with Wang. The last time Wang was in Ottawa 10 years ago, he unleashed a tirade on a Canadian reporter who asked about human rights in China at a joint press conference with then-foreign affairs minister Stephane Dion.
Anand made no explicit mention of human rights during her remarks on Friday, which got here shortly after confirmation that a Canadian warship transited through the Taiwan Strait last week.
“On May 22, 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which was accomplished on May 23, 2026,” a spokesperson with the Department of National Defence stated to Global News.
China claims sovereignty over the democratically governed Taiwan and has stepped up military activities across the island in recent months.
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Canada’s former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said that “transit of Canadian ships within the Taiwan Strait could be badly perceived” by Beijing.
“I feel now we have to ward off on this and refrain from exercising self-censorship,” he said. “We now have to face by our values.”
Anand said in her remarks that “we’re committed to growing this relationship responsibly with a goal of accelerating exports towards China by 50 per cent by 2030, while safeguarding Canada’s economic and national security interests and values.”
Wang is ready to fulfill with Carney Friday afternoon in Ottawa, and reporters will not be being permitted to ask questions.
“He [Carney] won’t do anything to make Beijing unhappy,” Poilievre said to reporters on Parliament Hill.
“That’s how things are done in Beijing, and now Mark Carney is importing those methods here.”
Carney visited China in January, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Carney’s office had cited his visit had a concentrate on “engagement on trade, energy, agriculture and international security.”
Because of this, Canada and China reached a preliminary trade deal wherein Beijing agreed to lower or eliminate some tariffs on Canadian agricultural products and Canada agreed to cut back tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles.
Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said that there was “still quite a lot of unfinished business” from Carney’s trip to China.
“The last 12 months has seen China much more aggressive by way of coping with Canada,” he said.
“Particularly, we will not be in a excellent position vis-a-vis the [U.S. President Donald] Trump threat. So, we’re at all times attempting to seek a great relationship, and naturally, trade opportunities with China, and China knows that.”
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