Canada’s Foreign Minister Jolly said on the 9th that the country will soon announce its new Indo-Pacific strategy. While keeping China in check on human rights issues, we aim to cooperate on climate change and other common goals
“Canada views its Indo-Pacific relationships as essential to achieving its national security and economic and environmental goals,” he said. He said China had become an “increasingly disruptive global power” and needed to be at the center of its Indo-Pacific strategy to be announced in less than a month. Two Canadians were detained on suspicion of spying after Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman and CFO of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was detained in 2018.
The tensions had somewhat eased after the three were released last year however there are still hesitation and caution between the two. “Canada’s remarks are not true, they are full of ideological prejudices, and they shamelessly interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular briefing. He said that whatever regional strategy Canada proposes should be guided by mutual benefit and win-win, not zero-sum games, or conservative Cold War zero-sum thinking.