2023-11-17 12:42:43
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and China’s President Xi Jinping shared only a cursory hello Thursday at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in San Francisco.
Because their country names start with the same letter, China and Canada regularly rub shoulders when leaders gather for photos at the summit.
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Presidents and prime ministers of countries participating in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit pose for a group photo in San Francisco.
Photo: Archyde.com / KEVIN LAMARQUE
United States President Joe Biden spent four hours with his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday to try to ease lingering tensions. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Trudeau plans to follow President Biden’s lead.
I think it’s a good thing for the United States that the two presidents had their discussion. I think it’s good for the world.
The two leaders agreed to resume military communications and reached a preliminary agreement on limiting the flow of fentanyl to the United States.
Relations between the United States and China were tested in 2022 when Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives, visited Taiwan. But things turned downright frosty last summer after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted drifting in North American airspace.
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Relations between Canada and China have also not been exactly warm in recent years.
Beijing has detained Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig for nearly three years, a move widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, head of the Chinese multinational Huawei, during the same period.
China has imposed multi-year bans on Canadian imports of meat and canola, citing concerns about unspecified pests.
And a year after the Canadian government called China a global disruptive force and found Beijing responsible for attempts at foreign interference, the Chinese government left Canada behind by easing restrictions on group travel.
In September, Ottawa appointed Marie-Josée Hogue, a Puisne Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, to lead a public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions, with a mandate that targets China, Russia and other foreign states or non-state actors.
Earlier this year, conservative Congressman Michael Chong testified before a congressional committee in the United States about his experiences as a target of Chinese coercion and disinformation campaigns.
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