Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly held her first formal talk with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in more than a year and a half amid heightened attention to Chinese interference in Canada.
“Minister Joly highlighted that amidst an international security crisis, Canada will pursue pragmatic diplomacy,” said the release. She also stressed Canada’s intention to uphold its “interests and values” as outlined in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, and defend international rules-based order, the release said.
The Canada–China relationship has deteriorated amid conflicts, including Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and China’s subsequent detention of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, widely regarded as retaliatory hostage diplomacy. The situation worsened with reports of China operating secret police stations in countries around the world, including Canada.
Canada is also scheduled to launch a public inquiry into foreign interference later this month, specifically investigating China’s alleged meddling in the 2019 and 2021 general elections.
‘Pragmatic Diplomacy’
The GAC release highlighted Ms. Joly’s approach toward China, which she characterized as “pragmatic diplomacy.” The minister introduced this doctrine as part of the two-pronged approach guiding Canada’s foreign policy in a speech at an Economic Club of Canada event in Toronto on Oct. 30, 2023.In her speech, Ms. Joly cited former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s engagement with “non-aligned countries,” such as the Soviet Union, as inspiration for her doctrine of pragmatic diplomacy. She advocated using this approach to engage countries that may not share Canada’s worldview or values, saying it was a way to avoid conflict.
“We must resist the temptation to divide the world into rigid ideological camps. For the world cannot be reduced to Democracies versus autocracies,” Ms. Joly said.
“Unfortunately, the rules of engagement, the rules of the games have changed,” Mr. Vigneault said.
He also underscored the importance of creating frameworks aimed at balancing openness, transparency, and innovation, while safeguarding essential values like freedom, democracy, and protection from interference and coercion.