China warns Canada over Taiwan issue, asks to respect Beijing's interests: Reports

China on Wednesday warned Canada over the Taiwan situation and asked it to respect Beijing's interests. Speaking to his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi cautioned that Beijing-Ottawa relations would suffer immensely if the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, Global Times reported. It further stated that China and Canada have a long history of friendly relations with the latter being one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing. However, in recent years, the Meng Wanzhou incident has caused a major blow in China-Canada relations. Wanzhou, a Chinese technology executive, was held in Canada in 2018 on fraud charges levelled against her by the United States.

"The incident was being used by the United States as a means of coercion to repress Chinese high-tech firms, a disgusting act that was clearly visible to the rest of the world," Wang Yi told Melanie Joly during their conversation. After more than 1,000 days in detention, Wanzhou was ultimately reunited with her family and released from Canada in September 2021. According to foreign minister Yi, China has always regarded and handled its relations with Canada from a strategic and long-term perspective, but the status quo of bilateral relations is not in both countries' interests. 

No country should behave as Tiger's paws: Wang Yi

During the conversation, Yi told Melanie Joly that no country should behave as the "tiger's paws and encourage unilateral bullying." The Chinese foreign minister also hoped Canada would face up to the challenge and meet the Chinese side halfway. He went on to outline that China and Canada have no real conflict of interests and believed that Canada could take a positive and objective approach to China and adopt a pragmatic policy toward the country. Yi stated that Canada should adopt a correct attitude and posture on problems affecting China's basic interests, and avoid putting new barriers in the way of China-Canada relations, Global Times reported. 

China-Canada relations

It is pertinent to mention here that the relationship between Canada and China is long-standing, dating back to well before diplomatic relations were established in 1970. Canada collaborates with China at the federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal levels. Trade and investment, the environment and climate change, education and culture, and consular affairs are all areas of engagement between two countries. Canada also maintains a proactive connection with China in the areas of economic policy, trade policy, market access, and regulatory collaboration. Both the countries also collaborate actively in international organisations including the G20, the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the World Trade Organization to promote global peace, security, and prosperity.

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