Canada’s main opposition leader on Saturday called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be tougher on Beijing in resolving trade disputes between the two countries and securing the release of detained Canadians.
Relations have deteriorated between China and Canada following the arrest in December last year in Vancouver of Huawei Technologies Co chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), who is wanted by the US for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran.
Since then, Chinese authorities have arrested two Canadians on suspicion of espionage and blocked imports of Canadian agricultural products, moves Beijing said were unrelated to the Huawei case.
“Trudeau must make it clear to China that there are consequences for actions,” Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, who leads Trudeau in the polls ahead of October’s parliamentary elections, said in a statement.
He had earlier called on Trudeau to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, and “make clear that there are consequences for arbitrarily detaining our citizens and abruptly blocking our agriculture exports.”
Scheer said Trudeau should retaliate against China by bringing a case before the WTO over its import bans, increasing inspection on Chinese imports into Canada and reviewing “all investments coming from China.”
“I renew these calls, and I further urge Justin Trudeau to take strong retaliatory action against China — to send the message that Canada will not be pushed around,” he said.
“I would have, months ago, shown to the Chinese government that there are consequences for violating international rules and violating the fundamental rights of two Canadian citizens,” Scheer told CTVNews on Thursday.
He said as a first step, he would have pulled Canadian funding from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, saying the bank is “controlled by China and helps expand China’s influence in the region.”
“I think that the government of China has learned…you can walk all over Justin Trudeau and not face any consequences,” Scheer told CTVNews.
Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trudeau said he had spoken to Xi about the detained Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor.
He gave few details about the interaction, but said, “I think it was important that we would have a face-to-face opportunity to engage directly in President Xi so that we can hopefully keep moving forward on this issue.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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