【By Observer Net, Ruan Jiaqi】
On Monday local time (22nd), before attending the United Nations General Assembly in the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participated in an event hosted by the U.S. think tank "Council on Foreign Relations" (CFR) in New York. When talking about relations with China, he described China as a "country governed by engineers," and specifically praised China's "sincere and active commitment" to climate policy.
According to a video released by CFR's official website, Trudeau said, "Based on my experience working with China, their attitude towards climate issues is very sincere and they are actively involved. It is a country governed by engineers, which has a deep understanding of how engineering technology can solve emission-related problems. Moreover, they have already established real competitive advantages in many such fields."
He further pointed out that China almost "continuously proposes actively" the willingness to cooperate globally on climate policies, and Canada can benefit from establishing closer ties with China.
"In terms of global public affairs related to climate, China has almost always extended a hand of friendship," Trudeau said, "and as a superpower in energy, Canada definitely needs to develop and fully utilize this cooperation advantage. Since we have made progress in this area and also pay attention to climate issues, there are opportunities for cooperation with China."
By contrast, Trudeau believes the U.S. is hesitant in climate cooperation. He added, "The U.S. could easily choose this path of cooperation with China, but it seems unlikely that the two sides will cooperate in this field...". As soon as he finished speaking, there was a wave of laughter in the audience.
In his speech, Trudeau also stated that the Liberal government he leads is re-engaging with China and other major economies, pushing for the development of bilateral rules.
This prime minister, who took office in March this year, advocates dividing cooperation into different levels according to the compatibility of each country's concepts. He believes that when dealing with relations with China, Canada needs to more clearly define areas of cooperation.
Trudeau claimed that Canada can "deepen cooperation" with China in areas such as commodities, energy, and basic manufacturing, but must set up "guardrails" for cooperation; content involving "national security, data privacy, and similar areas" must be excluded.
Additionally, Trudeau mentioned that Canada is working with the G7 to establish a so-called "Buyers' Club" for critical minerals, in an effort to get rid of "China's dominant position in this field."
Photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the CFR video
Canadian media analysis suggests that Trudeau's remarks on China continue his stance from June this year. At that time, he told Chinese officials that Canada was willing to restart relations with China, looking forward to resuming high-level exchanges and diplomatic, trade, and other dialogue mechanisms with China, and strengthening practical cooperation in trade, agriculture, energy, and environmental protection.
The report also mentioned that the current Trudeau government is continuously promoting the resumption of trade relations with China, including negotiations on issues such as seafood and canola tariffs.
In August this year, China announced that it would impose a 75.8% deposit on imported canola from Canada. Soon after, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe visited China in early September, hoping to push China to cancel the relevant trade measures. At the same time, western provinces of Canada are pressuring the federal government to remove tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to avoid China imposing additional tariffs on Canadian canola.
After returning from China, Trudeau's parliamentary secretary and Canadian parliament member Kody Blois said on the 19th that he expects more Canadian ministers to visit China, as the Canadian side is actively seeking to resolve the ongoing dispute over canola trade between China and Canada.
"I think these talks are positive, it's an opportunity to re-engage," Blois also said, "It is well known that Canada-China relations have not been ideal in recent years, but I fully support Moe's efforts, and I am also happy to represent the Canadian government in this visit."
On August 26, Li Chenggang, Director of the Department of International Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce and Deputy Minister, and Stewart, Deputy Minister of International Trade of Canada's Department of Global Affairs, co-chaired the 28th China-Canada Economic and Trade Joint Committee meeting in Ottawa, Canada. Both sides had candid, practical, and constructive communication and exchange on improving and developing bilateral economic and trade relations, properly handling each other's economic and trade concerns, and promoting practical economic and trade cooperation.
Li Chenggang pointed out that this meeting was an important measure to implement the consensus of the phone call between the two prime ministers. Before the meeting, both sides did a lot of solid preparatory work at the working level. During the meeting, both sides, based on the spirit of mutual respect and win-win, actively explored specific paths for the improvement and development of Sino-Canadian economic and trade relations under new circumstances. The Chinese side is willing to work with Canada to take the opportunity of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Canada and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership, manage differences through constructive methods and practical actions, promote the resolution of each other's economic and trade concerns, and jointly expand more areas of cooperation.
Both sides agreed to continue to play the role of the China-Canada Economic and Trade Joint Committee mechanism platform, accumulate positive results in the economic and trade field through subsequent communication and exchange, and promote the healthy, stable, and sustainable development of China-Canada economic and trade relations.
According to reports from Canadian news agencies and other Canadian media, Trudeau also said in his CFR speech that, in the context of current political and economic turbulence, Canada has the resources, talent, and innovation needed globally. He emphasized that Canada, as a reliable trading partner, maintains connections with all major global markets.
Regarding the drastic changes in the short-term situation, Trudeau introduced Canada's response strategy: first, "strengthen domestic strength," second, "expand overseas diversified cooperation," and third, maintain its own values and pursue core interests through a "flexible collaboration model." He also gave examples, stating that the Canadian government is actively promoting inter-provincial trade, increasing defense spending, and continuously expanding the network of trade and security partners.
When talking about the pressure from U.S. policies on the Canadian economy, Trudeau frankly stated that Canadians know "they must control their own fate."
"Let me be honest, Canadians don't want to wake up every day to check what new changes the U.S. policies have on Truth Social or X (social media platforms), we prefer to focus on things we can control," he said, "This is also an important part of this government's strategy."
Trudeau believes that the trade tensions with the U.S. have formed a "broad consensus" within Canada, with the general public generally believing that Canada must expand new trade cooperation mechanisms and increase defense spending.
In international affairs, regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, Trudeau confirmed that he will announce at the United Nations General Assembly that Canada will formally recognize the State of Palestine together with other international partners, "to create possibilities for achieving peace and the two-state solution."
As for the Ukraine issue, Trudeau avoided answering the question of "whether Canada will send troops to Ukraine," but emphasized that Canada is active in the alliance of allies in Ukraine and is the "largest contributor per capita."
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