By NTDTV Staff
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand declined to reaffirm Canada’s description of China as a “disruptive” global power while speaking to reporters in Beijing on Jan. 14, saying Ottawa must balance difficult conversations with the need to grow the Canadian economy.
When asked whether Canada still considers China “disruptive,” a term used in the federal government’s 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, Anand said the bilateral relationship is complex and evolving.
“We will be at the table to have those conversations,” Anand said in French, referring to human rights concerns. “At the same time, we need to continue building the Canadian economy.”
Pressed to give a yes-or-no answer, Anand said Canada–China relations involve “many issues we need to address.”
“This is a new government with a new prime minister, a new foreign policy, in a new geopolitical environment,” she said. “In this moment of economic stress for our country, it is necessary for us to diversify our trading partners and to grow non-U.S. trade by at least 50 percent over the next 10 years.”
Anand said Ottawa is seeking to recalibrate its trade and economic relationship with Beijing while also exploring “other opportunities” for cooperation.
Her remarks come as Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Beijing on the evening of Jan. 14 for meetings with senior Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang on Jan. 15. He is also expected to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping and business leaders before the visit concludes on Jan. 17, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The trip marks the first visit to China by a Canadian prime minister since 2017 and reflects the Carney government’s effort to diversify trade away from the United States. The PMO said discussions will focus on “trade, energy, agriculture, and international security.”
“The relationship between Canada and China has created opportunities and prosperity on both sides of the Pacific,” Carney wrote in a Jan. 14 post on X as he landed in Beijing. “We’re ready to build a new partnership — one that builds on the best of our past, and responds to the challenges of today.”
Canada–China relations began to show signs of thawing after Anand visited China in October 2025, when she described the relationship as a “strategic partnership.” Later that month, Carney met Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in South Korea, calling the encounter a “turning point” and accepting an invitation to visit China.
During the April 2025 federal election campaign, however, Carney had described China as the “biggest security threat” facing Canada, citing foreign interference concerns.
The Beijing visit has drawn sharp criticism from opposition politicians and China analysts.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canada’s interests must come first in any engagement with Beijing and called on the government to attach conditions to improved relations.
“The Liberals should tell Beijing they will cancel the $1 billion taxpayer-funded federal loan for Chinese-made ferries if they keep tariffing our seafood, canola, peas, and agri-food products,” Poilievre said, adding that “Beijing’s meddling in our democracy is unacceptable.”
Conservative MP Matt Strauss criticized Carney’s messaging, calling the idea of a new partnership “a bad strategy.”
“China is a communist dictatorship currently perpetrating genocide,” Strauss wrote on X.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also questioned the visit, calling China a “75-year-old communist dictatorship” and criticizing the government for not explicitly prioritizing human rights.
“Conscience will be left in the locker room,” Blanchet wrote, listing concerns including forced labour, repression of journalists, and the treatment of Uyghurs and Tibetans. He said Canada must trade with China “but with caution, and without naiveté about the regime.”
Conservative MP Roman Baber noted that while about five percent of Canada’s exports go to China, roughly 80 percent still go to the United States.
“Instead of striking a deal with our best customer, Carney is throwing our economy by cozying up to Communists,” Baber wrote.
Human rights organizations have also urged caution. The Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China said the prime minister must take “strong and effective action” to address Beijing’s human rights abuses, including allegations of transnational repression targeting individuals in Canada.