Nopea new critical stance against Beijing, after Trudeau on Tuesday accused China of “aggressive interference” in Canada’s electoral processes, Joly pledged to denounce the Asian giant’s human rights violations against the community Uyghur and other minorities in the Xinjiang region, to support freedom of expression in Hong Kong and to strengthen bilateral relations with Taiwan.

“We will continue to oppose unilateral actions that threaten the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” the foreign minister said, adding that Canada “will deepen its economic ties with Taiwan,” according to Bloomberg.

Ottawa, which has been reluctant to criticize Beijing in the interest of promoting economic and trade ties with China, is now determined to keep its “eyes open” on its business relationship with China.

“My job is to tell them [aos empresários canadianos] that there are geopolitical risks,” the foreign minister said, urging them to expand beyond China to other Asian powers such as Japan and South Korea, as well as to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.

Last week, Canada ordered Chinese investors to sell their stakes in three Canadian lithium mining companies, amid tougher foreign investment rules imposed on the sector.

In telecommunications, Ottawa has also taken action against Chinese giant Huawei to ban 5G technology in Canada.

Trudeau said on Tuesday, responding to a series of investigations by the Global News television network, that China had funded at least a dozen candidates ahead of the presidential elections and accused Beijing of “aggressive interference”. Politics.

“We have taken important steps to strengthen the integrity of our electoral processes and we will continue to invest in the fight against interference, against foreign interference in our democracy and our institutions,” he said.

Read also : Army must be ‘always prepared for war’, warns Xi