Canada-China ties in focus as Beijing's top diplomat visits

China's top diplomat is in Ottawa this week, meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand as the two countries navigate a relationship that remains tense despite recent trade progress.

Anita Anand described the economic relationship as "significant" on Friday, emphasizing Canada's commitment to "growing this relationship responsibly"—including a goal to increase exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030. But she also made clear the relationship comes with conditions: "safeguarding Canada's economic and national security interests and values."

The visit comes days after a Canadian warship transited the Taiwan Strait last week. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and views such transits as provocative. Canada's former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, warned the move "would be badly perceived" by Beijing, but argued Canada shouldn't self-censor its values over trade concerns.

Wang Yi was in Ottawa without permitting journalists to ask questions—a protocol that drew criticism from observers who saw it as importing Beijing's methods into Canadian politics. His last visit to Canada was a decade ago, when he bristled at a reporter's question about human rights.

Carney visited China in January and secured a preliminary trade deal that lowered tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products and Canadian electric vehicles. But Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said there's "still a lot of unfinished business" from that trip, noting Beijing has become more aggressive toward Canada over the past year.

The careful diplomatic language from Anand signals Ottawa is trying to balance economic ties with the values questions that have defined Canada-China relations for years.