Canadian Trade and Human rights talks in China

By Tayla Hamilton

History of Relations:

Canada's trade relationship with China dates back to 1942. One of the first Canadian leaders to recognize the People's Republic of China was Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1970. In 2014, since Canada and China signed a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA)- Chinese investment in Canada increased to nearly $500 million in 2015 from 2014 (a 17% increase).  During the last 10 years, Canadian trade with China has doubled and Canada now depends on China's economic prosperity in order to gain more economic wealth. In 2017, nearly $100 billion worth of goods was traded between the two countries compared to that of $48 billion in 2007.

https://cwf.ca/research/publications/what-now-strong-ties-canada-chinas-economic-relationship/

Canada-China's trade in goods has increased vastly since 1990.

The Present Issue:

 Lately there has been a strained relationship between Canada and China since December 1 2018, when Chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver under the suspicion of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.  China reacted in demand of the immediate release of Ms. Wanzhou to protect her rights and interests. After this incident, China also responded nine days later by arresting Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor. This has caused ongoing tension between China and Canada's future relationship in trade as well as diplomatically.

Future of the Issue:

After all the strive between Canada and China, It is hard to know what the future holds for its relationship. At this time, China and Canada have come to an agreement that even after the release of Ms. Meng, Mr. Kovrig, and Mr. Spavor, there will be no return to the past relationship that they had before. As I take the issue into perspective, the relationship between Canada and China in my eyes has become a bigger issue than it needed to be. In my opinion, If the arrests did not occur, the relationship between Canada and China could have been valuable. In order for the link between Canada and China to become stronger than what it presently is, my view is that both countries should try to repair their ties in the best way that they can so that trade and job opportunities will still be available for others that live in Canada and China.

Conclusion:

The  trade relationship between China and Canada is currently in a tense state. Recently, China has stopped all Canadian canola imports to its country for the reason of "hazardous organisms". This has delivered a big blow to Canada because about 40% of canola exports are received by China. As the events between Canada and China continue, it is unclear what may happen between them in the future. In the end, I believe that if China and Canada have a business alliance free of too much government interference, they will create a stronger and mutually successful connection with each other.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93China_relations

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/4848320/china-canada-diplomatic-relations/

 

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-thorny-road-lies-ahead-for-canadian-chinese-relations/

 

https://cwf.ca/research/publications/what-now-strong-ties-canada-chinas-economic-relationship/

 

https://globalnews.ca/news/5084425/china-stops-buying-canadian-canola/