New York: After the Chinese government expelled a Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “will not be intimidated” by China.
Earlier, Canada had expelled a Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei over allegations related to foreign interference and hours later, China asked a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai to leave by May 13.
Speaking to reporters, Trudeau said his government made the decision to expel Zhao Wei, a Chinese diplomat based in Toronto, from the country this week after “careful consideration”.
“We understand there is retaliation, but we will not be intimidated, we will continue to do everything necessary to keep Canadians protected from foreign interference,” Trudeau was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The China-Canada relationship has been cold for several years, especially after the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018. China then arrested two Canadians on spying charges. All three were freed in 2021.
However, there is a fear of economic repercussions for Canada as China is the second-biggest trading partner after the United States. Chinese imports of Canadian goods rose 16 per cent last year to a record of C$100 billion ($74.8 billion).
Last year, Beijing lifted a three-year ban on imports of canola, Canada’s largest crop, from trading companies Richardson International and Viterra that had been imposed in 2018. China is also a major importer of Canadian potash and wheat.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global supplies of wheat and vegetable oil are low, this may make it difficult for China to limit its imports of Canadian wheat and canola.
China took a very measured response, said Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China in an interview. He said the Chinese could have responded by expelling a more senior official or multiple officials.
Saint-Jacques also doesn’t expect China to resort to economic sanctions as Beijing is trying to reassure foreign companies that they can work there after draconian Covid-19 restrictions were dropped.
He said that since Beijing is trying to convince foreign enterprises to come back to China to invest, it will not put sanctions on Canada as it would send a very bad message to foreign companies.
