China strongly protests Canada’s summoning of ambassador over alleged ‘interference’

[ad_1]

China and Canada Photo: VCG

China on Friday strongly protested Canada’s foreign ministry’s threat to expel Chinese diplomats based on rumours, and said it would take firm action to uphold its interests, as the Department of Northern Affairs -American and Oceanian Chinese Foreign Ministry filed a harsh representation. to the Canadian Ambassador to China.

The diplomatic row between China and Canada continued on Friday, with analysts criticizing Canada for losing the rationality of its China policy. China-Canada relations, which have not fully recovered from the arrest of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, should not be kidnapped and destroyed by some Canadian politicians, observers said.

“If the Canadian side continues to make provocations, China will play the game to the end,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said, reiterating Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu’s remarks in response to the latest developments in the dispute.

On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Mlanie Joly announced the summons of the Chinese ambassador and threatened to expel Chinese diplomatic and consular staff after Canadian Conservative MP Michael Chong accused a Chinese diplomat of seeking to “bully” him and his family in Hong Kong over his criticism of China.

Some Canadian politicians and media have promoted so-called bullying, which is a baseless political stunt with an ideological bias. Chinese diplomats in Canada have always adhered to international conventions and fulfilled their duties according to laws, Mao said, stressing that China will take necessary measures to firmly defend its interests.

China’s sanctions against certain Canadian politicians in March 2021 were reciprocal countermeasures to Canada’s sanctions against Chinese individuals and entities based on lies and misinformation about China’s Xinjiang region. Mao said Canada’s provocation harms China’s interests and China’s countermeasures are legitimate and necessary.

Canadian media outlet Globe and Mail claimed in a May 1 report that China’s intelligence agency planned to target Chong and his relatives with sanctions after Chong voted in February 2021 for a motion condemning China’s policy in the Xinjiang region as a “genocide”.

The Chinese Consulate General in Toronto and the Chinese Embassy on Thursday refuted the baseless claims and accusations. Moreover, during a meeting on Thursday with a senior official from Global Affairs Canada, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu stressed that the normal performance of China’s diplomatic and consular officials should not be smeared, and that China’s sovereignty, security and development interests should not be violated.

The Chinese Ambassador also urged the Canadian side to immediately stop this self-directed political farce and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path. If the Canadian side continues to make provocations, China will play every step until the very end, he said.

The current political stunt staged by some Canadian politicians and media is the latest in a series of growing allegations that China is meddling in the Canadian election to favor Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party, and the parties of opposition are using the event to attack the Trudeau government. , pushing him to adopt a tougher policy towards China, according to analysts.

The Conservative Party, as the main opposition party in Canada, suffered a setback in the election and is pushing China-related issues to attack the Liberal Party. Some Canadian politicians are using baseless allegations to slander China and alienate China from Canada, Huang Zhong, a Canadian studies expert at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.

Canadian opposition parties have been calling for a broad public inquiry into alleged Chinese interference in Canadian elections for months. For example, in March, Kenny Chiu, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, claimed that “interference from China” was the reason he lost his seat in the 2021 federal election, media reported.

China has repeatedly refuted the interference allegations, but some Canadian politicians have continued to hype the issue. Analysts have noted that Canadian politicians are making China-related issues a central agenda of the political struggle, regardless of Canada’s national interests, and growing anti-China sentiment has poisoned the atmosphere of bilateral exchanges.

“Canada is gradually losing its fundamental attitude of calm, objectivity, rationality and independence in its China policy,” said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University.

Instead of reflecting on its deviated China policy, Canada has summoned the Chinese ambassador, which will further reinforce the “China threat” narrative, Li told the Global Times.

If some Canadians are determined to blindly follow the United States in targeting China, China-Canada relations will be affected, as will Canada’s international image, Li said, noting that China has warned Canada of the serious consequences of the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat.

Huang also expressed concerns about the Trudeau government’s future China policy. Unlike Australia, which has followed the United States closely in recent years and fully cooperated with them through mechanisms such as AUKUS, Canada actually hopes to balance the influence of the United States.

However, he faces more pressure from opposition parties to adopt a tougher China policy due to domestic politics and pressure from the United States, Huang said.

Analysts have also called for more rational voices from Canada to stand up to the current frenzied anti-China sentiment among some politicians, as sour relations do the two countries no good.

[ad_2]