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Carney meets Wang
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said Thursday that the current visit to Beijing by Canadian prime minister Mark Carney marked a "tournant" in diplomatic relations, after a long chapter of fâcherie.
“OTTAWA — Just days after a Canadian warship passed through the Taiwan Strait — defying Beijing’s warning that such transits undermine the bilateral relationship — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand welcomed her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to Ottawa on Friday for the first such visit in a decade”
Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing that "Les dirigeants des deux pays vont (...) avoir des entretiens" and that the talks would open new perspectives for bilateral ties.
The Courrier international account says Carney arrived Wednesday evening and was set to meet Zhao Leji at the Palais du peuple before meeting Premier Li Qiang, then meet President Xi Jinping on Friday.
The same account links the push for warmer ties to earlier deterioration in 2018 after Canada arrested a Huawei executive at the request of the United States, followed by the imprisonment of two Canadian citizens accused of espionage by Beijing.
It also places the visit in the context of an Ottawa-Beijing trade fight since the summer of 2024 over Canadian surtaxes on electric vehicles and Chinese steel and Chinese ripostes on agricultural products including canola.
Ottawa trade targets
In Ottawa on Friday, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand that Canada could surpass its goal of increasing exports to China by 50% by 2030, and he said he thought exports could increase by 100%.
Anand said during the meeting, "Canada is focused on growing our economy and diversifying our trading relationships," and she added, "The Canada-China economic relationship is significant."
The Reuters account says Wang Yi was on a three-day visit, the first by a Chinese foreign minister in a decade, and that he shook hands with Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of a private meeting.
It also says Canada and China struck an initial trade deal in January to slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola, when Carney became the first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017.
Reuters further reports that the ministers discussed trade, human rights and foreign interference in a "frank and constructive manner," and that they reiterated the importance of maintaining stable and reliable channels of communication at all levels.
Security, media access, fallout
As Wang Yi began his three-day trip to Canada, Global News reported that Canada’s foreign minister Anita Anand said the economic relationship between Canada and China is "significant" as she sought to grow ties while safeguarding "values."
“China's foreign minister said Friday that Canada could surpass its goal of increasing exports to China by 50% by 2030, signaling potential for deeper trade ties during talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand”
Global News also quoted a Department of National Defence spokesperson stating, "On May 22, 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait, which was completed on May 23, 2026," and it said China claims sovereignty over Taiwan.
The iPolitics account says Anand’s meeting remarks came as a journalist shouted a question to Wang Yi during a pooled photo opportunity, and it reported that Wang did not respond.
iPolitics further reports that Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney’s government of being reluctant to take actions that could make "Beijing unhappy," and it quoted Poilievre saying, "Canada has once again bowed to the Xi Jinping regime," after media access restrictions.
The same iPolitics report describes how a small media pool was ultimately permitted to briefly attend the start of the meeting between Carney and Wang, after which media were asked to leave the room after 30 seconds, according to the Canadian Press’s pool note.
