As China hosts Canada’s climate minister, hopes of lowering diplomatic temperatures remain dim

The first visit to China in four years by a Canadian cabinet minister could be the latest bid for improved ties, but chances of a major rapprochement are slim, while the risk of confrontation remains high, Chinese observers said.

On Monday, Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault joined Chinese and foreign officials, as well as representatives of the United Nations, during a three-day annual gathering in Beijing of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), a semi-official think tank Canada helped establish in 1992.

02:13

Chinese Canadians caught in the crossfire as Canada-China tensions rise

Chinese Canadians caught in the crossfire as Canada-China tensions rise

The trip is the first visit by a Canadian government minister to China since 2019, when bilateral ties hit a low point following the arrest in Vancouver of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on a US warrant in December 2018. Days later, two Canadian nationals – Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – were detained in China on security and espionage charges.

It could be seen as the latest attempt by Beijing and Ottawa to find common ground amid strained relations.

“Climate change and biodiversity are the most important areas of cooperation between China and Canada today,” said Huang Zhong, an associate researcher with the Centre for Canadian Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

He noted that climate change was among the few areas where Canada had pledged to work with China in its Indo-Pacific strategy, which described China as an “increasingly disruptive global power”.

“Cooperation in other areas between China and Canada has basically stagnated, and this is where the interests of the two countries converge more than anything else at the moment,” Huang added.