Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that existing dockage rules with China on canola exports have been extended beyond a September 1 deadline as the two countries continue to negotiate a long-term solution.
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Trudeau said that strengthening the friendship and potential of the relationship between the two will open a new era in China’s engagement with the rest of the world.
Trudeau said Canada will strengthen its relationship with China in a more comprehensive way, to enhance peace and prosperity of the two countries and the world.
Ritz suggested there is still room for Canada to forge a free trade deal with China, even though government officials have played down any notion that such a deal could be on the table.
He is expected to press China to release missionary Kevin Garratt, who is accused of spying, and allow Canadian canola exports – a victory that, if it comes, would merely mean achieving the status quo.
Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to annual meetings and the eventual establishment of a mechanism to discuss national security and rule of law. “Right now that would be very hard for the Canadian industry to meet on the volume of canola that we send to China”.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau says Ottawa believes the bank will make an important impact on the global economy, and therefore the Canadian economy, through infrastructure investments. But China’s ambassador to Canada, Luo Zhaohui, made an attempt to quell fears of his government’s troubled human rights record ahead of Trudeau’s trip. “The most important thing is that we are back in the game”.
Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, former Canadian diplomat Charles Burton said joining the bank would signal Canada was prepared to see China take a seat at the table in terms of having input on the global economic landscape.
Since last year’s election win, Trudeau’s Liberal government has indeed taken a cautious approach to China amid public concerns in Canada over the country’s long-standing history of human-rights abuses. While he didn’t directly mention predecessor Stephen Harper, who had sought to stem Chinese influence on the Canadian economy, Trudeau said that overlooking China is a mistake.
Canada will apply to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ottawa’s finance department said Wednesday, in a coup for Beijing after Washington had tried to dissuade United States allies from signing up.
In response, the Garratt family said in a statement through their lawyer that they were “extremely frustrated” by a lack of progress in securing his release and enabling him to obtain “critically-needed medical treatment”.
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According a poll conducted earlier this month, 46 percent of Canadians support a deal with China, which is ten percent more than two years ago.
