BEIJING, March 10 — China will continue to grow bilateral relations with Canada on the basis of mutual respect and equality, Beijing's Foreign Ministry said after Mark Carney won the race to lead Canada’s ruling party and become Prime Minister.
Carney, a two-time central banker who has never held elected office, won the leadership race with 86 per cent of the votes cast yesterday and will succeed Justin Trudeau, who resigned in January.
Speaking at a regular press conference yesterday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning congratulated Carney on his win, while urging Canada to work with China to promote improvement and development of relations.
“We expect Canada to adhere to an objective and rational understanding of China and pursue a positive and pragmatic policy towards China,” Mao said yesterday.
Carney’s victory came just a day after Beijing announced tariffs on over US$2.6 billion (RM11.5 billion) worth of Canadian agricultural and food products on Saturday, in retaliation against levies Ottawa introduced in October.
The levies, scheduled to take effect on March 20, match the 100 per cent and 25 per cent import duties Canada imposed on China-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products.
Mao defended China’s countermeasures as entirely “legitimate and reasonable”, telling the Canadian side to correct its “wrong practices” to provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable environment for the two countries’ enterprises.
— Reuters
