Foreign minister visit signifies China’s interest in ‘deepening partnership’ with Canada

Añadido: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Now is the vice president of research and strategy at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, Vina Nadjibulla. Vina, good morning and thank you for your time.

[00:00:08]>> Good morning, Akshai. Thank you for the invitation.

[00:00:10]>> So, the first time in a decade we have the foreign minister of China coming into our country. Of course, a step in the right direction in relationships that are pretty difficult and challenging.

[00:00:21]>> Indeed, it is a significant visit. As you mentioned, it's the first in 10 years and it's building on Prime Minister Carney's visit to Beijing in in January of this year. The focus of the visit is very much on implementing the various agreements signed during that visit. And of course, it shows that China is also interested in deepening a partnership because of what they can get from Canada, but also because of the kind of messaging that China wants to send to the US with whom China is of course in a strategic competition for influence.

[00:00:54]>> Talk to us about the sticking issues that you think will be picked up in these discussions with the Prime Minister as well as the Foreign Affairs Minister.

[00:01:02]>> So, there's of course a focus on economic issues, trade and investment.

[00:01:07]We have a provisional agreement on tariffs around EVs and agricultural products. There will be discussions about extending that because as you know, the canola tariff relief actually expires at the end of this year. There's also going to be discussions around investment. Canada wants to have more investment for our own economic growth and resilience, but at the on the other hand, of course, there are sectors in which we don't want to have Chinese investment because of national security concerns, because of economic security concerns. So, there would need to be some clarity about what are those guardrails, what kind of investment from China is welcome in what sectors, and where we would actually continue to hold the red line. Of course, there will also be sensitive discussions on issues of foreign interference, transnational repression, national security, rule of law, uh concerns. Um a lot of that has been behind closed doors, and of course, I think it will be important for Canadians to be reassured that Canada is standing firm on those while we are trying to negotiate some economic um and uh trade and commercial benefits from this relationship.

[00:02:15]>> While, of course, Canada is looking at diversifying its relationships, trade is one of the primary agendas, as we know, between these two nations, Vina. But, talk to us a little more about the decade-old controversy when it comes to especially the police agreements being filed between Canada and China, and the pressure that continues to mount on this government to make things more clear.

[00:02:35]>> Absolutely. There is a lot of concern here among uh certain communities, uh Canadians uh from uh with Hong Kong, uh Tibet, Xinjiang uh roots, uh who are worried that this kind of rule of law cooperation with China could potentially uh be negative for them. And they're asking for transparency. And, of course, the government is saying that they can't release the MOU that has been agreed because the Chinese side doesn't want that. Now, that's not surprising. Uh China is uh an authoritarian state. We are living in a democracy, so there does need to be some degree of reassurance, actually, to all Canadians who worry about what it means to have this kind of rule of law cooperation with China. Now, there are lots of other issues, as well.

[00:03:21]Uh I think one of the elements of this visit um from the foreign minister is actually going to be about establishing a national security and rule of law dialogue, a mechanism that existed between Canada and uh China in 2016 and 2017, but then became dormant, as you recall, because of the a major crisis we had in the relationship from 2018 to 2021. So, by setting up that mechanism, I think the Canadian government is trying to say that they will pursue these issues, that they're not abandoning them. But it's a really difficult diplomatic balancing act.

[00:03:57]>> All right, we'll leave it at that this morning then. Vice President of Research and Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation, Vina Nadjibulla. I appreciate your time and expertise, Vina. Thank you.