Nov. 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has decided to toughen its rhetoric against China as part of its new Indo-Pacific strategy after accusing Beijing of “aggressively interfering” in Canada’s electoral processes.
Canada’s Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, explained during a speech on Wednesday in Toronto, reported by ‘The Globe and Mail’, that “the China of 1970 is not the China of today”, but rather is “a increasingly disruptive global power”.
In his speech, in order to present the new Canadian strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, Joly has also promised to denounce the human rights abuses committed by China against the Uyghur community and other minorities in the Xinjiang region, to support freedom of expression in Hong Kong and strengthen its relationship with Taiwan.
“We will continue to oppose unilateral actions that threaten the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” said the Canadian Foreign Minister, adding that Canada will “deepen our economic ties with Taiwan,” according to Bloomberg.
Ottawa, which has been reluctant to criticize Beijing in the interest of promoting economic and trade ties, has favored keeping “eyes open” when doing business with China. “My job is to tell you that there are geopolitical risks,” she explained, referring to the businessmen and their future ties with the Asian country.
In this sense, he has urged Canadian businessmen to expand their market beyond China, towards other Asian powers, such as Japan and South Korea, as well as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
Canada last week ordered Chinese investors to divest three Canadian lithium mining companies under stricter foreign investment rules in the sector. Likewise, Ottawa has also taken action against Huawei to ban 5G.
Trudeau stressed on Tuesday in connection with a series of investigations published by the Global News television network, that China had allegedly been financing a clandestine network of at least a dozen candidates ahead of the presidential elections.
Thus, he accused Beijing of “aggressively interfering” in Canadian politics. “We have taken significant steps to strengthen the integrity of our electoral processes and we will continue to invest in the fight against interference, against foreign interference in our democracy and institutions,” she said.
