During short conversations with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sideline of this week’s (G20) conference in Indonesia, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, expressed “serious concerns” over allegations of Chinese intervention in the internal affairs of his country.
In a readout provided by the office of the prime minister on Tuesday, it was said that the two leaders addressed North Korea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, Trudeau “also highlighted our severe concerns concerning interference actions in Canada,” according to the readout.
Global News, a Canadian news organization, reported the week before last that Canadian intelligence agencies had warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China was “targeting Canada with a massive campaign of foreign interference,” including by meddling in the elections that will take place in 2019 in that country.
Yuesheng Wang, age 35, was detained on Monday by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the province of Quebec on suspicion of espionage. The RCMP alleges that Yuesheng Wang obtained trade secrets with the purpose of providing them to the Chinese government.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa didn’t immediately react to a demand from the Reuters media organization to confirm the conversations that took place between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, as well as the topics that were addressed during those talks.
The relationship between China and Canada has been tense for a number of years, but it has become much worse since Canadian police arrested a senior official of Huawei Technologies in 2018 on a warrant issued by the United States. After that, China allegedly detained two Canadians on suspicion of spying for them.
Despite the fact that the stalemate was resolved when all three individuals were freed the year before, ties have continued to deteriorate on a number of contentious issues, including trade and human rights.
In June, Canada stands Accused of harassing its aircraft when they were carrying out Un’s sanction patrols near North Korea. Canada’s planes were in the area to enforce sanctions on North Korea. The Canadian government was threatened by the Chinese government, which replied by accusing the Canadian military of “provocations” and threatening “serious repercussions” to Canada.
According to the readout that was provided by Trudeau’s office, the two leaders “emphasized the necessity of continuing discussion” during their conversations on Tuesday.
The two world leaders most recently connected in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019, on the margins of another G20 summit. They had previously seen each other on three prior occasions, first in 2015 on the fringes of the G20 in Turkey, plus twice during official trips in Beijing in 2016 & 2017.
According to Roland Paris, a professor of global affairs at the University of Ottawa and a former foreign policy advisor to Trudeau, “We’re talking about a relationship that has been in a frozen state for years, so it’s not unexpected that the first leader-level interaction would be informal.”
In the meanwhile, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with her Chinese counterpart on Tuesday. During this meeting, she voiced her worries about the claims of involvement in the internal affairs of Canada.
“We won’t accept any form of the meddling of foreign entities in our elections and we won’t tolerate whatever form of foreign interference at large in Canada – period,” Joly told reporters after the G20 summit. “I’ve said it many times, and I’ve said it to my counterpart,” Joly said. “We won’t accept any form of constant interference of foreign governments in our elections.” “This is not a topic for debate. It is really unbearable.
Free Speech and Alternative Media are under attack by the Deep State. Real News Cast needs reader support to survive.
Every dollar helps. Contributions help keep the site active and help support the author (and his medical bills)
Please Contribute via GoGetFunding
