Tories Call Out Foreign Affairs Minister Over ‘Strategic Partnership’ Comment on Beijing

Conservative MP Michael Chong rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 18, 2023. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Conservatives are criticizing Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand for saying Canada has a “strategic partnership” with China following her recent trip to Beijing.

“Last election, during the debate, the prime minister was asked to name the biggest threat to the security of Canada. He answered in one word, ‘China.’ And now, the foreign affairs minister is talking about a strategic partnership with Beijing, including security,” Conservative MP Michael Chong said in the House of Commons on Oct. 23.

“These two things seem contradictory. Can the minister reconcile these two things, or is this another example of the prime minister saying one thing during the election and doing another after?”

(Left) Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand gives a press conference in Brussels on Feb. 16, 2022. (Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images); China's foreign minister Wang Yi at a press conference in Beijing on March 8, 2019. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Anand met with Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Oct. 17 following her visits to India and Singapore earlier that week. According to a readout of the meeting issued by Global Affairs Canada, the two discussed “key areas where Canada and China can work together constructively, including the environment, energy and health.”

In an interview with The Canadian Press on Oct. 20 following her trip, Anand went further, saying Canada is in a “strategic partnership” with Beijing and that Ottawa is “going to find areas where we can further co-operate.” She added that she and Wang discussed cybersecurity, air travel, health, energy, and the environment.

“We must be nuanced in our diplomacy. We must stress our concerns relating to security and public safety on the one hand, and we must seek to build additional supply chains on the other. That is pragmatism,” Anand said.

China’s readout of the Anand-Wang meeting said it was a step toward a “restart” of Canada-China relations.

Anand said the meeting was “unprecedented, in the sense that over the past number of years, our governments have not proceeded along this route,” and that she has invited Wang to visit Canada.

Responding to Chong’s question in the House of Commons on Oct. 23, Anand appeared to be suggesting that while her government places importance on issues related to national security, relations with China are part of the government’s strategy of diversifying Canada’s supply chains.

“Let me reiterate that the public safety and security of Canadians, regardless of the time and place, is always top-of-mind for our government, including in our diplomatic relationships,” she said.

“At the same time, Canada will continue to become the strongest economy in the G7 and the way we do that, Mr. Speaker, is to diversify our supply chains while making sure we protect our citizens at home.”

Anand’s comments mark a pivot from Ottawa’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy, which referred to China as an “increasingly disruptive power” whose interests and values increasingly don’t align with those of Canada.

In the English-language leaders’ debate on April 17 during the election campaign, Carney said China is the “biggest security threat” facing Canada. A month earlier, in March, Carney said it’s important to build deeper ties with Asian countries as part of diversifying trading partners amid U.S. tariffs, but noted that potential partners in Asia that share Canada’s values “don’t include China.”

However, more recently, Carney said Canada would benefit from engaging with China on climate issues.

“In my experience with China, they are, amongst other things, very sincere and engaged on climate,” he said on Sept. 22.

Carney is set to travel to Asia this week, visiting Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea from Oct. 24 to Nov. 1.

Canada and China signed a strategic partnership in 2005, but relations have worsened in recent years, reaching a low point with China’s 2018 detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada on a U.S. extradition request.

More recently, Canada tacked 100 percent tariffs on Chinese-manufactured electric vehicles last year and 25 percent on Chinese aluminum and steel. Ottawa said the moves were required to guard Canadian industry from “non-market practices” by China, while Beijing responded this past March with 100 percent tariffs on Canadian canola oil, oil cakes, and peas, along with 25 percent tariffs on seafood and pork. The Chinese regime followed up this past August with duties up to 75.8 percent on Canadian canola seed.

Intelligence agencies have recently reported about China’s extensive meddling in Canada’s affairs, with a 2023–2025 public inquiry saying China is the most active foreign power interfering in Canada.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.