China’s chief diplomat told Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly Friday that Beijing wants to “inject momentum into the restoration of normal relations,” but said the Asian power will brook no criticism of human-rights abuses or its menacing threats to the island democracy of Taiwan.
In the Chinese readout of the meeting, Mr. Wang said the two countries have extensive common interests and they must work to improve bilateral relations and “move forward along a healthy and stable track.”
Last year, Ms. Joly expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei after The Globe reported Beijing had targeted Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong in an attempt to gain leverage over the MP.
The Chinese Communist Party, which seized power in China in 1949, has never ruled Taiwan, where nationalist forces retreated after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong more than 70 years ago.
Canada has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state since 1970, when then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau switched diplomatic relations to Communist-led China, but maintains strong informal ties.
She said Canadians should take note that Ms. Joly’s Beijing stop was sandwiched between substantial visits to South Korea and Japan, two of the most important allies for Ottawa’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
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