Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to visit China after years-long rift

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Jul, 2024 10:52 AM
  • Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to visit China after years-long rift

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is headed to China on Friday at the invitation of Beijing, after years of diplomatic strain following the 2018 detention of two Canadians.

In recent months, China has urged Canada to work on shared priorities and draw less attention to disagreements.

Joly's visit follows Canadian security officials flagging Chinese interference as the country's greatest strategic threat, a charge Beijing rejects.

Canadian business leaders have called out Ottawa for being an outlier in restoring high-level dialogue with Chinese leaders, arguing Canada can still raise human-rights concerns while boosting trade.

Yet in a survey last fall of Canadian business leaders, more than half said the risk of China arbitrarily detaining staff was still negatively affecting their business.

In 2018, China arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor following the Vancouver detainment of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Kovrig and Spavor were both convicted of spying in 2021 in closed Chinese courts. Canada and many allies said the process amounted to arbitrary detention on bogus charges in an unaccountable justice system.

The U.S. worked out a deferred prosecution agreement in Meng's case, allowing for her release, and Beijing permitted the two Michaels, as they came to be known, to fly home in September 2021.

Global Affairs Canada said in a statement Thursday morning that Joly would meet her counterpart in China to discuss Canada-China relations and security issues.

"As the world faces increasingly complex and intersecting global issues, Canada is committed to engaging pragmatically with a wide range of countries to advance our national interests and uphold our values," Joly wrote in a statement.

MORE National ARTICLES

Killer Robert Pickton in life-threatening condition after Quebec prison attack

Killer Robert Pickton in life-threatening condition after Quebec prison attack
Correctional Service Canada has confirmed that B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton was the inmate injured in a "major assault" Sunday at a Quebec prison. Quebec provincial police said Tuesday that 74-year-old Picktonwas taken to hospital with injuries that were considered life-threatening.  

Killer Robert Pickton in life-threatening condition after Quebec prison attack

Surrey Board of Trade calls for review of sex offender regulations, protocols

Surrey Board of Trade calls for review of sex offender regulations, protocols
The Surrey Board of Trade says it is joining Mayor Brenda Locke in "urgently calling" for a comprehensive review of laws and protocols around high-risk sex offenders.  Board President Anita Huberman says in an open letter to B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth and Attorney General Niki Sharma that the board is concerned and frustrated about the recent release of a 29-year-old, who lives in Surrey and was convicted of sexually assaulting two women in 2017.

Surrey Board of Trade calls for review of sex offender regulations, protocols

B.C. mayor says drones endangering wildfire helicopter pilots, pleads for patience

B.C. mayor says drones endangering wildfire helicopter pilots, pleads for patience
The mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality in British Columbia says drones are endangering helicopters being used to fight wildfires near Fort Nelson, which was ordered evacuated earlier this month. 

B.C. mayor says drones endangering wildfire helicopter pilots, pleads for patience

Four Indian nationals accused of killing B.C. Sikh activist to appear in court today

Four Indian nationals accused of killing B.C. Sikh activist to appear in court today
Four Indian nationals accused in the murder of British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are all due in court today. Twenty-two-year-old Amandeep Singh appeared via video link for his first appearance in a Surrey, B.C., court last week, and the matter has been put forward to today. Karan Brar, Kamalpreet Singh and Karanpreet Singh, who already face the same charges following their arrests in Edmonton, are also scheduled to be in a Surrey courtroom today.

Four Indian nationals accused of killing B.C. Sikh activist to appear in court today

Trudeau making 'Team Canada' charm offensive in visit to Philadelphia

Trudeau making 'Team Canada' charm offensive in visit to Philadelphia
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Philadelphia today, on his first trip south of the border since his government launched a new "Team Canada" charm offensive in the United States. Officially he is in Pennsylvania after accepting an invitation to speak at the Service Employees International Union quadrennial North American convention.

Trudeau making 'Team Canada' charm offensive in visit to Philadelphia

Flight PS752 victims' families say they're not sorry to hear of Iran president death

Flight PS752 victims' families say they're not sorry to hear of Iran president death
Members of a Canadian group representing families of those killed when Iranian officials shot down Flight PS752 in January 2020 say they are not sorry to hear of the death of Iran's president. President Ebrahim Raisi and Iran's foreign minister were found dead Monday, hours after their helicopter crashed in fog.  

Flight PS752 victims' families say they're not sorry to hear of Iran president death