Canada-China relations are improving at a slower rate than expected due to “real concerns” around foreign interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
The prime minister made the comment during an armchair discussion at Bloomberg’s Singapore office. Trudeau is in the country to pitch Canada to private sector leaders. His visit to Singapore follows two days in Indonesia at the ASEAN summit.
“It has not gotten as much better as we perhaps would have liked to after the Michael situation was resolved, partially because there are real concerns about foreign interference,” Trudeau said when asked about the state of Canada-China relations.
Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arbitrarily detained in December 2018, days after Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested by Canadian officials at the request of U.S. authorities. They were finally released in September 2021 after more than 1,000 days in jail.
Trudeau said the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor put a chill on Canada-China relations. Two years after their release, Trudeau says the relationship between the two countries is “not deteriorating” but right now he says there is no space for a “rapprochement.”
“No,” he said. “Certainty not at this moment.”
Minutes before the prime minister’s armchair discussion with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker before dozens of private and public sector leaders, Canada revealed Marie-Josee Hogue would lead the review on Foreign Interference.
When it comes to engaging with China, Trudeau said Canada has to keep its eyes wide open.