Foreign Minister Anita Anand said economic relations between Canada and China are “important” as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins a three-day trip that will include a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Canadian reporters were not allowed to ask questions about her statements with Wang. The last time Wang was in Ottawa 10 years ago, he fired back at a Canadian reporter who asked about human rights in China at a joint news conference with then-Foreign Minister Stephane Dion.
Anand did not explicitly mention human rights during her comments on Friday, which came shortly after a Canadian warship was confirmed to have passed through the Taiwan Strait last week.
“On 22 May 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which was completed on 23 May 2026,” a Ministry of National Defense spokesperson told Global News.
China claims sovereignty over democratically ruled Taiwan and has intensified its military activities around the island in recent months.
Canada’s former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, said that “the transit of Canadian ships in the Taiwan Strait would be viewed poorly” by Beijing.
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“I think we have to step back from this and refrain from self-censorship,” he said. “We have to stick to our values.”
“We are committed to growing this relationship responsibly with the goal of increasing exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030, while protecting Canada’s national economic and security interests and values,” Anand said in her remarks.
Wang and Carney met Friday afternoon at the Prime Minister’s Office. A small number of journalists were allowed to take photos and briefly record the handshake, but were not allowed to ask questions. Neither of them made any statements.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his office in Ottawa, Friday, May 29, 2026.
The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby
“He (Carney) will not do anything that will make Beijing unhappy,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters at the parliament building.
“This is the way things are done in Beijing, and now Mark Carney is importing those methods here.”
Carney visited China in January and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Carney’s office had indicated that his visit focused on “participation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security.”
As a result, Canada and China reached an initial trade agreement in which Beijing agreed to reduce or eliminate some tariffs on Canadian agricultural products and Canada agreed to reduce tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles.
Cheuk Kwan, co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China, said “there is still a lot of unfinished business” from Carney’s trip to China.
“The past year has seen China become more aggressive in terms of dealing with Canada,” he said.
“In particular, we are not in a very good position in terms of the threat from (US President Donald) Trump. So, we always try to look for a good relationship and, of course, trade opportunities with China, and China knows that.”
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
