Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping for about 10 minutes on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 15.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, Trudeau raised concerns about Chinese interference in Canada and media reports of de facto police stations operating in Canada.
The office said the pair also spoke about North Korea’s missile launches, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the UN summit on biodiversity that China is hosting in Montreal next month.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly also spoke with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Nov. 15.
“I’ve said it many times and I said it to my counterpart: we won’t accept any form of meddling in our governments, in our elections, and we won’t tolerate any form of foreign interference in Canada,” Joly told reporters.
“It’s not a discussion. It’s intolerable, and that’s our position.”
‘China Problem’
Amidst reports of a possible meeting between Trudeau and Xi ahead of their short exchange on Nov. 15, David Mulroney, former Canadian ambassador to China, said it wasn’t the right time for the Canadian prime minister to meet with the Chinese leader.“Having just endured China’s cruel hostage diplomacy, outrageous interference, and the loutish behaviour of its diplomats, now is not the time for the PM to meet Xi Jinping,” Mulroney said on Twitter on Nov. 14. “Nothing could do more to justify China’s belief that Canada is a vassal in the making.”
Mulroney said on Nov. 15 that Canada’s “China problem” includes “harassment of Canadians, election interference, technology theft.”
On Nov. 7, Global News reported that intelligence officials had warned Trudeau and several cabinet members in a series of briefings and memos in January that Beijing had been allegedly targeting Canada with an extensive campaign of foreign interference, including during the federal election in 2019.
The Conservatives initiated an emergency meeting to be held at the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on Nov. 14. However, an attempt to order the production of documents presented to Trudeau and the involved cabinet members was voted down by the committee, which has a majority of Liberal and NDP MPs, in a 6-5 vote.
On Nov. 14, the RCMP announced the arrest of Yuesheng Wang, a Hydro-Québec employee, for allegedly sending trade secrets to China.
A report from a human rights NGO Safeguard Defenders published in September found that over 50 unofficial Chinese police stations are operating overseas, including three in the Greater Toronto Area.
Andrew Chen, The Canadian Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
