CANADA’S ‘LONG GAME’ VS. CHINA.
Prime minister sets positive tone in first visit
HONG KONG • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrapped up his first official visit to China Tuesday with another push for close co-operation, including on human rights, and for openness and inclusiveness in the global economy.
“The kinds of anxieties we’re seeing around the world as people are closing in are going to leave us all poorer and worse off,” he said Tuesday in Hong Kong, expanding messages Canada brought to the Group of 20 table Sunday and Monday.
“There are not as many bright spots in terms of growth and openness and trade as we’d like to see around the world.”
Though it has yet to be ratified, one example could be the Canada-European Union trade agreement, as election rhetoric in the U.S. could leave the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal dead in the water.
During his tour, Trudeau tried to make the case the relationship between Canada and China could be another such bright spot.
In Beijing, Finance Minister Bill Morneau signalled Canada’s intent to apply for membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), joining other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.
In Shanghai, Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland signed $1.2 billion in commercial deals with Chinese corporations, followed by another series of signings in Hong Kong Tuesday.
A spat over Chinese restrictions on Canadian canola — described by Colin Robertson, a Global Affairs Canada Institute fellow, as “China showing its muscle and trying to intimidate us” — was temporarily resolved, amid further negotiation.
Addressing concerns in Canada, Trudeau strengthened his language on human rights Tuesday, appearing more relaxed in Hong Kong on the last day of his visit. He said he didn’t see a trade-off between human rights and a closer economic relationship.
“I think you have to talk fully and frankly about human rights and engage and talk about the challenges that need to be faced,” he said.
He added that in talks with Chinese leaders, he mentioned a scathing 2014 report by the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples in Canada.
“I don’t think it means any less of us that we recognize that there is still work to do, and that was the tenor of the conversations I had.”
This is all part of a “long game,” said Roland Paris, Trudeau’s first international adviser who now teaches at the University of Ottawa. Trudeau is setting a positive tone to Canada’s inevitable relationship with the world’s second-biggest economy.
The fact China hosted Canada in the busy lead-up to the G20 was a strong sign of “the importance that the Chinese put on their relationship with Canada,” he added.
He rejected suggestions Canada is pivoting away from the U.S. by joining the AIIB.
“The United States will remain our principal partner, trading partner and ally just by virtue of geography.”
The U.S. is beating Canada in the race to capitalize on trade with Asia, something Canada “can’t afford not to pursue.”
At the G20 summit, Trudeau wasn’t in the spotlight and didn’t hold many bilateral meetings, though he did meet new U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
Still, in the context of the G20’s economic focus, Paris said the prime minister showed himself to be “one of the world’s leading voices for openness and inclusion and against protectionism and discrimination and xenophobia and building walls.”
Trudeau offered a “fullthroated” defence of small-l liberal values to other leaders.