Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a meeting in Beijing this Friday with his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, in which he assured that China is willing to “rebuild mutual trust” between China and Canada, after the diplomatic tensions between both countries in recent years.
Wang indicated that “the development of relations between China and Canada demonstrates that, despite their different systems and paths, both countries have always shared broad common interests and a wide margin of cooperation,” according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The Chinese diplomat assured that both countries can “fully become partners for mutual achievements and joint development based on mutual respect”.
Wang asserted that “China is willing to strengthen communication with Canada, improve understanding, eliminate interference, and rebuild mutual trust,” while asking to take advantage of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations to “resume dialogue and exchanges at all levels” and “promote the resolution of legitimate mutual concerns”.
For her part, the minister of the North American country highlighted the “traditional friendship” between Canada and China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
Anand indicated that “the current momentum of improvement in bilateral relations is positive and positive progress has been made”.
“Canada is willing to strengthen high-level exchanges with China, deepen mutual trust, and leverage dialogue and consultation mechanisms in diplomatic, economic, and commercial fields to promote cooperation in trade, agriculture, tourism, energy, and interpersonal exchanges,” said the minister, who invited Chinese companies to “invest and do business” in her country.
According to Anand, Canada is willing “to strengthen multilateral coordination with China to jointly defend the status of the United Nations and support free trade”, in a context of trade tensions arising from the tariff war unleashed by US President Donald Trump.
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Relations between Canada and China suffered a serious deterioration in 2018 when Canadian authorities detained Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver at the request of Washington.
In retaliation, China arrested two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, whom it accused of espionage.
Meng, Spavor, and Kovrig regained their freedom in 2021 after a three-way agreement between Canada, the United States, and China.
In 2022, Canada called China a “disruptive power”.
A year later, in 2023, Canadian intelligence services accused China of interfering in the country’s elections, which led to the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat.
This year, the North American country imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, to which Beijing responded with duties on some Canadian products.
Also, the Canadian government condemned the execution in China this year of several Canadians who were imprisoned in the country allegedly for crimes related to drug trafficking.
