Another blow for uneasy relations with Beijing

The abrupt resignation of a Canadian lawmaker over allegations he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat has escalated a row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canadian elections – and highlighted the complex and often fraught relationship between the two countries.

Han Dong, a member of the governing Liberal party, was reported to have met with Han Tao, China’s consul general, in February 2021 to suggest that Chinese authorities delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China at the time.

Dong confirmed the meeting but strongly denied the allegations about the conversation. Last Wednesday evening, he resigned from the governing caucus to sit as an independent.

The resignation came after leaks from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about alleged interference by the Chinese Communist party in the 2021 federal election that have prompted renewed scrutiny of the relationship between China and Canada.

When Justin Trudeau became prime minister in 2015, he carried a legacy from his father, Pierre Trudeau, who as Canadian prime minister was one of the first western leaders to recognise the People’s Republic of China, meeting Mao Zedong in 1973.

“It took a long time for the political class, especially the Liberal government, to acknowledge that China has changed a great deal under Xi Jinping,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, who served as Canada’s ambassador to China between 2012 and 2016. He said the relationship between Trudeau and China’s leader was partly to blame for the weakening relationship. “There is bad blood,” he said, adding that when Trudeau made his first official visit to Beijing in 2016, “the Chinese were not impressed”.

Trudeau’s “knowledge of China was outdated and he didn’t know what kind of leader Xi Jinping was”, Saint-Jacques said.

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa’s graduate school of public and international affairs, said Beijing was trying to make Canada “feel like a small power that can be stepped on … They’re treating us as if they have licence to manipulate our democracy through our electoral system.”

The political frictions mask a reality that China’s appetite for Canadian coal, wood pulp and pork has grown. Trade between the two countries climbed to a record high in 2022, with imports from China worth C$100bn ($73bn) and exports to the tune of C$27.9bn.

But China has been known to use economic coercion to further its political aims. At the peak of the standoff over Meng Wanzhou, China halted imports of Canadian canola as well as pork products. Canada relies heavily on trade and on the free flow of goods so cannot respond to such economic pressure without risking greater punishment.

Part of the challenge lies in Canada’s geographic, economic and cultural ties to the United States. Like Beijing, Washington has also shown a willingness to disrupt economic norms and impose sanctions or trade restrictions.

“China understands there’ll be more blowback if they take punitive measures against the US because of its sheer economic power,” said Jia Wang, the interim director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta. “But it’s more willing and more likely to implement those measures on smaller powers like Canada.”

Canada still needed to understand and work with China, said Wang, adding Canada’s best interest was to take a more “nuanced” approach that reflected both Ottawa’s mounting frustration – and its deep economic reliance on an increasingly unpredictable partner.

“We have to stand up for Canadian values,” she said. “But we also can’t run the risk of looking away and getting cut off. It’s not in anyone’s interest – especially not for Canada.”