Some fear the latest flare-up could have economic repercussions for Canada. Chinese imports of Canadian goods rose 16 per cent last year to a record of C$100 billion (US$74.8 billion), and China is Canada’s second-biggest trading partner after the United States.
Last year, Beijing lifted a three-year ban on imports of canola, Canada’s largest crop, from trading companies Richardson International and Viterra that had been imposed in 2018. China is also a major importer of Canadian potash and wheat.
China “took a very measured response,” Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said in an interview aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He said the Chinese could have responded by expelling a more senior official or multiple officials.
Saint-Jacques also said he does not expect China to resort to economic sanctions because Beijing is trying to reassure foreign companies that they can work there after draconian Covid-19 restrictions were dropped.
Beijing has this year rolled out the red carpet for Western leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, and China’s Premier Li Qiang has reached out to corporate leaders to ensure them the country is now open for business.
Beijing is conducting a “charm offensive [to] convince foreign enterprises to come back to China to invest”, Saint-Jacques added. “So putting sanctions on Canada at this stage would have sent a very bad message to foreign companies.”
