Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday that his country's relations with China were "not strained at all" while opposition Liberals called for repairing "the damage done by the government to the relationship."
"Canada's one-China policy has not been changed." Cannon, who was appointed as foreign minister last October, told Xinhua Monday evening after delivering a speech on foreign policy in Rideau Club, a meeting center in the capital city Ottawa.
"I don't view our relations as being strained at all, as a matter of fact I view them as being good and mature," said Cannon when asked about his evaluation of the current Canada-China relations.
"We certainly feel that we need to better frame issues dealing with human rights," he said. "Other than that I don't see anything upsetting our relations."
Earlier in the day, the opposition Liberal Party said the ruling Conservatives' mismanagement of Canada-China relations was "hurting Canada's economy."
"Prime Minister Stephen Harper must reach out to China directly and try to repair the damage he and his government have done to this important diplomatic and economic relationship," said Bob Rae, Foreign Affairs Critic of the party, in a press release.
Liberal International Trade Critic Scott Brison said that during the first two years of Conservative government (2006 and 2007), Canada's exports to China "stagnated", "barely keeping pace in proportion to China's import growth."
"In comparison, the United States increased its trade with China by 60 percent over those same years, far outpacing the growth of Chinese global imports and increasing their share of the Chinese market," he said.
Last week, Harper's former Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson publicly called for Canada to "be more deeply engaged with China" and confirmed there were deep divisions within the Conservative government regarding how to deal with Beijing, according to the release.
However, in his speech, Cannon said Canada was committed to pursuing "enormous commercial opportunities" in China, and would open six new trade offices there to help Canadian companies.
The initiative, part of a broader Asian strategy, is a top foreign policy goal by the Conservative government, Cannon noted.
"We will be paying special attention to Asia's emerging markets," Cannon said. "Asia has emerged as a major driving force in the global economy."
In his speech, Cannon also noted that the Harper administration gave its top priority to strengthening ties with the United States, Canada's largest trading partner. The other issues included the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the pursuit of trade opportunities combined with fostering democracy in Latin America, and promoting Arctic sovereignty.
(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2009)