Canada PM says talks with Xi marked ‘turning point’ in relations; apologised to Trump

GYEONGJU, South Korea – Canadian premier Mark Carney on Nov 1 called talks with China’s leader Xi Jinping a “turning point” in restoring their battered relations, adding he had raised tricky topics like foreign interference with Beijing.

Mr Carney also confirmed from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in South Korea that he had apologised to US President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad campaign that prompted the US President to raise tariffs on Canada.

Canada’s relations with China have been among the worst of any Western nation but both are at the sharp end of Mr Trump’s tariff onslaught, even after Mr Xi and Mr Trump’s deal on Oct 30
to dial back tensions.

China and Canada on Oct 31
held their first formal talks between their leaders since 2017.

“This meeting marked a turning point in our bilateral relationship. We have now unlocked a path forward to address current issues,” Mr Carney told journalists in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, referring to China.

“Our overall discussion was constructive,” he added.

Mr Carney said on Nov 1 he had accepted an invitation from Mr Xi to visit “in the new year”.

“I directed our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to current challenges and to identify areas for cooperation and growth,” he said.

A Canadian statement said that the leaders discussed “respective sensitivities regarding issues including agriculture and agri-food products, such as canola, as well as seafood and electric vehicles”.

Mr Carney said that he brought up alleged Chinese influence in Canadian elections, saying that it was “important to have that discussion” in order to get relations “back on track”.

Ties fell into a deep freeze in 2018 after the arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver and China’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.

Ottawa and Beijing have since engaged in tit-for-tat tariffs including on Canadian canola, an oilseed crop used to make cooking oil, animal meal and biodiesel.

Trump ‘offended’

Mr Trump on Oct 25 said he was hiking tariffs on Canadian goods
by an additional 10 per cent and terminated all trade talks, after a “fake” anti-tariff ad campaign
that featured late US president Ronald Reagan.

Mr Trump flatly rejected any resumption of trade negotiations even after Mr Carney said sorry for the ad.

“I did apologise to the President. The President was offended,” he said on Nov 1, while insisting he was relaxed about when talks would resume.

“After all the noise of this week, Canada still has the best trade deal of any country with the US,” he said.

“We can spend our time watching Truth Social worrying about the reactions of individuals. We are staying calm,” he said.

“We’ll wait until they’re ready.”

He added that he took heart from the Toronto Blue Jays who are fighting to become the first Canadian team to win the baseball World Series since 1993.

“They take risks, they’re aggressive, and they’re a team... And our Canada is taking risks, and we are a team,” Mr Carney said. “I will confess that I was looking at my phone during session two of Apec.” AFP