‘Not feasible’ for any new government to ‘reset relations’ with China: Kovrig

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig says China is trying to drive a wedge between the U.S. and many countries around the world, including Canada.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig says a full reset of the Canada-China relationship is not possible, and that the federal government should instead be focusing on building stable diplomatic relations with Chinese officials to mitigate any possible worsening of the relationship.

“Always with a new government, there will be maybe a temptation for ministers to think that ‘I can be the one to crack the China problem and reset relations,’” Kovrig told CTV News Channel’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview on Thursday. “I think that’s going to get a cold shower. It’s not feasible.

“What is feasible is to work within that space, build stable, respectful diplomatic relations with senior Chinese officials, from the prime minister on down, so that when there are problems and disagreements — and there are likely to be many — we can at least manage them diplomatically and constrain the likelihood that China will take even more harmful measures,” he added.

Kovrig — who was detained in China for more than 1,000 days between 2018 and 2021 — said he believes Canadian government experts, people within the foreign ministry and intelligence agencies understand the risk China poses.

“It’s about protecting ourselves, increasing defence spending, rebuilding the Canadian defence-industrial base, and augmenting our economic security,” he also said.

The relationship between Canada and China soured significantly in 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of the United States over bank fraud charges. Days later, China separately detained Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor over allegations of espionage — accusations they denied.

Both men were eventually released after spending more than 1,000 days in a Chinese prison, not long after Meng herself was released from house arrest.

Meanwhile, the final report of the public inquiry into foreign interference — released in January — described China as “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions” and called Canada “a high-priority target.”

The report also concluded that China “poses the most sophisticated and active cyber threat to Canada.”

And, during the federal election debate on April 28, Prime Minister Mark Carney called China one of the largest threats when it comes to foreign interference in Canada and emerging threats in the Arctic.

“From a foreign policy perspective, I think the job one for prime minister Carney and his new cabinet is to prepare this country for a much harsher geopolitical environment,” Kovrig said, when asked about Carney’s election promise to develop a new foreign policy. “China is the primary driver of that shift, and so we need a China strategy, a whole-of-government strategy, where every cabinet minister is on the same page, and the Chinese are not able to try to find cracks and exploit them in various ways.”

Chinese ambassador insists countries can move past ‘normal’ differences

In an exclusive broadcast interview on CTV’s Question Period last week, China’s ambassador to Canada, Wang Di, insisted the two countries can move past what he characterized as “normal” differences.

“For China and Canada to bring our relationship back onto the right track, we need to seek common ground while reserving differences in a constructive way,” Wang told Kapelos through a translator.

“China and Canada have a lot of differences, and this is very, very normal,” he added.

Wang’s comments come as China seeks to forge stronger ties with Canada to push back against the economic impact of U.S. tariffs.

When asked why he believes the ambassador chose this moment to deliver his message to Canadians — despite persistent past requests for an interview — Kovrig said: “Short answer, because China is in a bad position right now.”

“They’re struggling with their domestic economy, and then they’re under extreme pressure from the U.S. administration’s very high tariffs,” he said. “He’s looking to wedge Canada away from the United States, and this is a campaign that the Chinese are waging all around the world, so it’s not just Canada.”

When asked by Kapelos what message he hopes Canadians take away when it comes to China, Kovrig said: “They want to rewrite the international order.” He added that he thinks “not enough people are sufficiently aware” of the risks posed by China, because of the “huge gap” between experts and analysts, and Canadians writ large.

Kovrig said his focus is on closing that gap, because “we are running out of time.”

You can watch Kovrig’s full interview on CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos in the video player at the top of this article.

With files from CTV News supervising producer Stephanie Ha