Carney Expects to Meet With Xi Jinping at ‘Appropriate Time’ Following Talks With Chinese Premier
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Prime Minister Mark Carney says he expects to eventually meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as talks between Canada and China continue to “deepen” following recent official engagements.
Carney made the comments on Sept. 23 on the sidelines of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following an in-person meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The two discussed trade “sensitivities” and agreed to continue talks, including at the highest levels of government, according to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“We had very constructive set of discussions which built on earlier phone calls, which built on exchanges between our foreign ministers, exchanges between our trade ministers,” Carney told reporters.
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“Those discussions will deepen. I will expect at the appropriate time to be meeting with President Xi Jinping.”
Carney and Li discussed opportunities for bilateral ties as well as trade irritants involving products like Canadian canola and China-made electric vehicles (EVs), according to the PMO.
Trade frictions between the two countries have escalated in recent months following Canada’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese EVs and metals, which it said were necessary to protect domestic industries from Chinese non-market practices. Beijing responded with tariffs on Canadian canola and other agricultural products, widely seen as retaliatory.
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“We’re building a constructive, pragmatic dialogue to create more certainty and prosperity for both our nations,” Carney said in a Sept. 23 social media post, commenting on the meeting with Li.
Carney had spoken with Li by phone earlier this year in his first conversation with Beijing since becoming prime minister. During the call, they agreed to “regularize” high-level talks between the two countries.
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Diplomatic relations between the countries had been deteriorating since 2018, when China arbitrarily detained Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in apparent retaliation for the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, following a U.S. extradition request. Relations have further strained more recently following revelations of China’s interference in Canada’s democracy and Ottawa’s condemnation of Beijing’s escalating transnational repression of dissidents in Canada.
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The PMO said Carney and Li agreed to remain in contact and “affirmed their interest” in holding a subsequent leaders’ meeting.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has previously called for a stronger response from Ottawa to Beijing’s trade actions, criticized the outcome of Carney’s engagement with Li, saying it yielded no results.
“No end or even relief from tariffs on our canola farmers and fish harvesters,” Poilievre said in a Sept. 23 social media post.
Expanded Cooperation With Beijing
During the Sept. 23 press conference, Carney reiterated previous remarks that Canada will seek to expand trade relations with China given its position as Canada’s second-largest trading partner. He added that cooperation with Beijing could include clean and conventional energy..
“Just to underscore, China is Canada’s second largest trading partner–it has been for a long time and there is a very broad range of commercial relationships that already exist and a much larger range of opportunities for both countries,” he said.
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“China, for example, is one of the purchasers of liquefied natural gas in the LNG project,” he added. “There are a range of opportunities, obviously in agriculture and elsewhere.”
Carney had said a few days earlier while addressing the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank in New York that Canada would benefit from engaging with Beijing on climate policies.
“In my experience with China, they are, amongst other things, very sincere and engaged on climate,” he said.
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“This is a country run by engineers–it’s a country that understands a lot of the engineering solutions to issues around emissions,” he added. “We care about this issue as well, it’s still part of our policy, so there’s an opportunity to engage.”
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The comments drew criticism from Poilievre, who said Carney was praising a country with a dubious environmental record. Carney has been a longtime advocate of climate change and net-zero policies.
“Carney’s climate con job is back,” Poilievre said in a Sept. 23 social media post. “While his anti-energy policies force less Canadian energy production, he praises the [Chinese Communist Party] in Beijing on the environment—a regime building nearly 2 new coal fired power plants every single week.”
China’s Take on the Talks
In a description of the Sept. 23 engagement between Carney and Li, China’s state-run media Xinhua News said the Chinese premier welcomed the improvement of bilateral relations and looked forward to a shift in Canada’s perception of China..
“China hopes the Canadian side can adopt a correct perception of China, and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns to cement the political foundation for the development of bilateral cooperation and ties,” reads the Sept. 24 article, attributing the remarks to Li.
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The article also says Li hopes Canada will “provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies in Canada.” His remarks echoed a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Canada in June, which said it “deplores and firmly opposes” Ottawa’s order for Chinese surveillance camera maker Hikvision to cease operations and shut down its business in Canada over national security concerns.
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Hikvision has faced sanctions in the United States, the U.K., and Australia over its connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
The Chinese account of the Sept. 23 meeting also cited Carney as saying that “Canada firmly adheres to the one-China policy,” a remark referring to the China-Taiwan relationship that was not included in the Canadian readout.
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Ottawa recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the government of China under the One-China policy adopted since 1970, but “neither endorses nor challenges” the PRC’s position toward Taiwan. Ottawa says it maintains “unofficial but valuable economic, cultural and people-to-people ties” with the self-ruled island.
Liberal and Conservative MPs earlier this week called for Taiwan’s inclusion in this year’s United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said the island’s participation is “a necessity for safety, for stability and for the future of civil aviation,” while Tory MP Michael Cooper said Taiwan’s exclusion from the meeting would equate to “bending to Beijing’s bullying.”
China recently condemned the transit of Canadian and Australian naval vessels through the disputed Taiwan Strait as “provocation,” while the Canadian Joint Operations Command described it as a demonstration of support for a “free, open Indo-Pacific.”
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