MUNICH — China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Canada to jointly “eliminate interference” and revive cooperation across sectors, during a February 14 sideline meeting with counterpart Anita Anand at the Munich Security Conference.
Wang, engaging multiple Western leaders at the event, positioned Beijing as a reliable partner amid perceived US unpredictability. “China is willing to work with Canada to eliminate interference, restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” he told Anand, according to China’s Foreign Ministry readout—without directly naming the United States.
The overture follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s January visit to China, his first since taking office in 2025. Carney aimed to diversify export markets and reduce reliance on the US, Canada’s top trading partner and ally.
A preliminary trade pact emerged, with China set to cut tariffs on Canadian canola and offer visa-free travel to its citizens. Yet the US has warned of 100 percent tariffs on Canadian goods if the deal proceeds, accusing it of enabling Chinese “dumping.”
Sino-Canadian relations, strained since the 2018 Vancouver arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, which prompted Beijing to detain Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges, show signs of thaw. China recently commuted the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, convicted on 2014 drug charges, a Canadian official told VAN this month. Wang praised Carney’s trip as “fruitful” and advocated a “healthy and stable new type of strategic partnership” between the two nations.