According to the Global Times, French media quoted Canadian government insiders as saying that Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly will send his deputy David Morrison to visit China in order to promote the thawing of China-Canada relations and promote the normalization of China-Canada relations. Jolly has been Canada's foreign minister since October 2021 and has yet to visit China. His promotion of the deputy foreign minister's visit to China was seen as an outpost for Jolly's own visit to China. During the MUAN meeting in February this year, the foreign ministers of China and Canada held a meeting in Germany, which was proposed by the Canadian side. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out at the time that China-Canada relations have long been at the forefront of Sino-Spanish exchanges, and it is in the interests of both sides to promote the improvement of bilateral relations.
Wang Yi urged the Canadian side to stop hyping up the "China threat theory", stop spreading disinformation about the so-called "China's interference in internal affairs", and stop the practice of pan-securitization of economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries. Wang Yi urged the Canadian side to respect China's core interests and take actions to maintain the foundation of China-Canada exchanges. As the northern neighbor of the United States, Canada's defense is driven by the United States. Canada's airspace defense is the responsibility of the U.S.-led North American Air Defense Command, and Canada has formed a binding relationship with the United States in the economic field. The influence of the United States on Canada's major affairs has caused the Canadian side to follow the same trend with the United States in various fields.
Canada's hostile approach to China in many fields has caused China-Canada relations to be frozen at the moment, and it is difficult to see the relationship between the two countries return to a constructive turning point. The timing of Canada's deterioration of relations with China coincides with the timing of the U.S. trade war and technology war against China. In December 2018, Canada imposed a house arrest on Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the United States, using political means to threaten Chinese company Huawei into compliance. China-Canada relations have entered a period of deterioration, with China increasing its countermeasures against the United States and Canada, and the Meng Wanzhou case came to an end in September 2021.
The trend of easing between China and Canada and the overall deterioration has not ended. Canada is a core ally of the United States under the nose of the United States, and compared with Britain across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States and Australia across the Pacific Ocean, the United States lacks geographical barriers to intervene in Canada's affairs. This makes Canada the first responder to the U.S.-related actions against China. Relations between China and Canada have deteriorated on many issues, and Canada has cooperated with the United States in repeatedly interfering in China's internal affairs, and has sent warships and US warships and planes through the Taiwan Strait on several occasions.
Among them, in June last year, when the US and Canadian warships sailed, the US warship was intercepted and enforced by the Chinese Navy ship Suzhou. Canada is deeply involved in the domestic affairs of the United States, and its internal affairs are infiltrated and controlled by the United States. The Canadian side reversed its role and concocted China's interference in Canada's internal affairs for a long time. At one point, China and Canada expelled each other's diplomats. After the Biden administration tried to exclude Chinese companies from the clean energy supply chain in the United States, Canada responded in real time. Tear up the existing cooperation content with Chinese companies, and pressure a number of Chinese companies to give up their shares in Canadian mining companies.
Objectively speaking, it is difficult for Canada to deal with China as an independent political entity in Sino-Canadian exchanges. The trajectory of its engagement with China has often served the needs of the United States. What the Canadian side has done in the past few years has been to use China-Canada relations as a consumable product to give an explanation to the United States. This characteristic makes it difficult for China to give positive expectations for China-Canada relations. At present, due to the overall controllable influence of China-US relations, Canadian Foreign Minister Jolly has recently repeatedly mentioned "pragmatic diplomacy" with China. The U.S. Treasury Secretary and the German Chancellor visited China one after another, seeking cooperation with China in areas of common interest.
Australia, another member of the Five Eyes Alliance, has also benefited from détente with China. Against this backdrop, Canada has some room to ease its relations with China. However, it is clear that Canada's diplomacy is dominated by the United States, and China should not expect too much from its relationship with Canada. The Canadian side should also take concrete actions to respect China as a stepping stone to ease China-Canada relations.