Friday, September 18, 2020

Canada abandons trade talks with China

Canada has ended plans to open trade talks with China, citing China’s “assertive, coercive diplomacy.”

Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said  “I don’t see the conditions being present now for these discussions to continue at this time.


“The China of 2020 is not the China of 2016.”


“All the initiatives and the policies that had been put in place at the time – all that needs to be reviewed,” he said, adding: “We’re looking at all of them with the lens of China of 2020.”


China Is holding two Canadians in prison in apparent answer to Canada’s arrest of Ment Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Huawei telecommunications company.


She was arrested in response to an extradition order from the United States. The court is British Columbia is still far from reaching a decision on the case.


Other Chinese actions that have given nations pause are its creation of islands in the China Sea where it has built military installations and its tightening of its grip on Hong Kong.