Canada to deepen Taiwan ties and maintain Chinese cooperation
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Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly says Canada opposes unilateral actions undertaken by China and characterized the country as "increasingly disruptive."
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Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly (AP)
China, according to Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly's statement on Wednesday, became "increasingly disruptive" noting that Beijing has also engaged in human rights violations and has acted unilaterally across the region.
Joly said "China is an increasingly disruptive global power," adding that Beijing sought to alter the global environment.
The FM significantly stated that "we will deepen our economic ties with Taiwan. We will continue to stand up for freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Hong Kong," and express Canada's concerns over China's violations of human rights.
Furthermore, the FM highlighted that Canada will continue to stand against China's unilateral actions that have threatened the Taiwan Straight status quo.
Despite the aforementioned concerns, Joly affirmed that Canada stands to cooperate with Beijing on matters pertaining to global health, nuclear non-proliferation, climate change, and biodiversity insisting that "at all times, we will continue to have frank, open and respectful dialogue."
Trudeau's anti-China alliance
Last December, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Western countries must form a united front against China to prevent it from “cleverly playing us off each other in an open market,” in an interview with Global television. Trudeau then went on to claim that China has been able to use Western countries’ competitiveness against them.
"We need to do a better job of working together and standing strong so China can't play the angles and divide us one against the other."
Trudeau’s statements were made in light of tense relations between the two countries, as Canada had arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, while China detained two Canadians for three years on charges of espionage.
Canada had also joined other countries in their diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, despite China not having sent diplomatic invitations to the countries involved.
Read more: Beijing condemns visit of Canadian officials to Taiwan
