Beijing is looking for a closer relationship with Ottawa. Should Canada play ball?
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Dylan Robertson
Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu poses for a portrait at the Embassy of China in Ottawa on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Beijing is seeking to improve relations with Ottawa after years of diplomatic unease, and though it’s not clear whether Canada is ready to play ball, some experts say there are practical reasons to look for better co-operation.
“The strained relations between our two countries is actually not what we would like to see,” China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, said in a recent interview.
“We can be engaged in a candid and constructive dialogue.”
This year has already marked an uptick in high-level talks.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly had a lengthy call with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in January, followed by a February meeting in Germany. They only had a brief conversation in 2023.
In both meetings, China laid out its demands for better relations, including “correct cognition,” or Canada accepting responsibility for causing diplomatic strain — as Cong put it, “the responsibility does not lie with China.”
Beijing also wants “mutual respect,” which would include not recognizing an independent Taiwan, and “win-win co-operation,” which means fewer trade and science restrictions.
Relations are already in the gutter, noted Carleton University professor Jeremy Paltiel, who specializes in Canada-China relations.
“The Chinese are saying, ‘You’re offering nothing, so why should we play ball? If you’re just gonna show up to criticize, then we’re not interested,'” he said.
Paltiel said it would be tricky for Ottawa to find something to work together on that won’t rile up the Canadian public or the U.S. government. Both increasingly think about scientific research through security or intellectual-property lenses, he said.
Still, Beijing’s priorities could be leveraged into something that is useful for Canada, he suggested.
One form of “win-win co-operation” could be agreeing to export small amounts of liquefied natural gas. Both countries could brand such a move as focused on reducing global carbon emissions by giving China another alternative to coal.
Other countries have found ways to co-operate without backing down on their values, argued Paltiel.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese became the first leader of his country to visit Beijing in seven years last fall.
His government convinced China to drop trade restrictions, Paltiel noted, even as it continued to raise human-rights issues with Beijing and work with the U.S. on nuclear submarines.
At around the same time, Joly vowed to undertake “pragmatic diplomacy” and engage more with states Canada has deep disagreements with.
Her office said that approach was demonstrated by her March visit to Saudi Arabia.
Joly has not signalled whether a visit to China is on the horizon.
The Canada China Business Council argues Canadian industry is losing ground to its American, Australian and European competitors, who are taking on Canada’s market share in China for goods such as pet food.
A survey of 143 Canadian businesses last fall found “public and corporate sentiment on China remains a tremendous obstacle.”
Some 58 per cent said the risk of China arbitrarily detaining staff was still negatively affecting their business, more than five years after China arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor following the Vancouver detainment of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
That’s down from 70 per cent who flagged the issue in 2021.