Foreign minister won't say if China is still seen as a 'disruptive' force in the world

BEIJING — Within hours of landing in Beijing with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Foreign Minister Anita Anand appeared to be stepping back from the Liberal government’s 2024 assessment that China is an “increasingly disruptive” global force.

Anand was repeatedly pressed by reporters Wednesday evening in Beijing to know if the Liberal government stood behind its stern assessment of China in its 2024 Indo-Pacific strategy .

Every time, she refused to say if she agreed that China is a disruptive global force, though she eventually countered that Carney’s election brought in a new government with a “new foreign policy.”

“In this moment of economic stress for our country, it is necessary for us to diversify our trading partners and to grow non-U.S. trade by at least 50 per cent in the next 10 years,” she noted, adding that the issue is “complex.”

Her comments appear to suggest the Carney government is backing away from the stern assessment of China in the Indo-Pacific strategy published under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

They come as Carney and a small group on ministers arrive in Beijing for a first official visit with President Xi Jinping since 2017.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy describes China as “an increasingly disruptive global power” that “increasingly disregards” international rules and norms.

“China is looking to shape the international order into a more permissive environment for interests and values that increasingly depart from ours,” reads the document.

The strategy also said that China offers significant opportunity for Canadian exporters and that cooperation with the world’s second biggest economy is necessary on a number of “existential” issues like climate change, global health and nuclear proliferation.

The minister’s tiptoeing around the stern language in her own government’s Indo-Pacific strategy shows just how starkly the federal government’s relations with China have changed since Carney’s election and the trade war with the U.S.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Carney government redefine its public views on China in the coming months as Canada considers the Asian superpower as a key non-U.S. export market.

Carney received a warm welcome from the Chinese upon his arrival Wednesday evening. He was greeted by both countries’ respective ambassadors as well as Chinese Minister Sun Meijun.

After saluting the envoys, Carney was given a bouquet of flowers by 11 year old Lu You Ci before departing in a motorcade that drove him to central Beijing.

Canadian and Chinese flags adorned flagpoles along the highway exiting Beijing Capital International Airport.

Anand told reporters Wednesday the government has been working for months to remove trade irritants with China, namely crippling tariffs on Canadian canola exports.

On the flip side, China is certainly going to ask Canada for concessions on 100 per cent tariffs on electric vehicle imports to protect Canadian automobile manufacturing.

“The conversation has been productive, the negotiations are still continuing,” she said.

“We are here to represent all sector of the Canadian economy,” she added.

On Thursday, Carney is expected to meet Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, followed by a meeting and a dinner with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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