Former Liberal MP and cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland says Ottawa should be skeptical of commitments from Beijing, as it has committed human rights violations and can’t be considered a reliable partner.
Freeland made the comment in an
interview with Bloomberg’s David Westin on Feb. 25. She said that China is the “big winner” when it comes to the soured trade relations between Canada and the United States.
Her comments come as Prime Minister Mark Carney has been seeking to deepen relations with China. Ottawa
signed several agreements with Beijing during Carney’s visit to China in January, including a deal to lower tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from 100 percent to 6.1 percent on 49,000 vehicles in the first year, in exchange for reduced Chinese tariffs on Canadian agricultural and seafood products.
Freeland said that when China talks to countries like Canada, it casts itself as “the reliable partner” and as a country that “middle powers” like Canada can trust. She said China is portraying that “if you do a deal with China, it’s a deal that has meaning.”
“China is also casting itself as the defender of this international order based on rules that the U.S. created,” Freeland said. “My own view is we need to be a little bit skeptical of commitments from China to do that.”
Freeland noted that she was Canada’s foreign minister when China arbitrarily
detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for more than 1,000 days in apparent retaliation after Canada executed a U.S. extradition warrant in late 2018 for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and arrested her in Vancouver.
“International experts concluded that their treatment amounted to torture,” Freeland said. “That is not the behaviour of a reliable partner.
“A really terrible thing that’s happening right now is a lot of people, a lot of Canadians, are now coming to the conclusion that Beijing can be trusted more than Washington,” she added. “I think that’s really sad.”
‘Eyes Open’
Researchers at the Montreal Institute for Global Security (MIGS)
said at a Feb. 17 press conference, releasing the findings of their latest report on transnational repression in Canada, that as Canada looks to diversify its trade partners, it can’t be “naive” in dealing with the Chinese regime, which is a leading perpetrator of transnational repression.
“We have to keep our eyes open. We can’t close our eyes to the authoritarian threat that China represents,” MIGS co-founder and executive director Kyle Matthews said. “Many countries around the world that deal with transnational repression will tell you that China is one of the biggest players, if not the biggest player.”
The Conservatives have also
raised concerns about Ottawa’s new agreements with Beijing, including an agreement for cooperation in law enforcement. Tory MP and democratic reform critic Michael Cooper said at a Feb. 5 committee meeting that Beijing has engaged in transnational repression targeting Chinese diaspora communities in Canada, has “shown no respect for Canada’s sovereignty,” and has threatened the safety and security of Canadians.
“They don’t have an independent judiciary, they don’t have civilian oversight of law enforcement, they don’t respect human rights, they’re actively perpetrating genocide, among other crimes against humanity,” Cooper said.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has said under the agreement, the two countries would cooperate on issues such as curtailing fentanyl from coming into Canada.
Ottawa has not made the agreement public, while Tories are pushing to be able to review the agreement.
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