Biden-Trudeau summit: Canada and US forge stronger ties against ‘disruptive’ China
- North American leaders push for stronger joint supply chains and less dependence on other countries for critical minerals and semiconductors
- Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who China had detained for more than 1,000 days until 2021, attend the speeches
“Canada and the United States acknowledge the serious long-term challenge to the international order posed by the People’s Republic of China, including disruptive actions such as economic coercion, non-market policies and practices, and human rights abuses,” the two leaders said in a statement after their talks.
They described Washington and Ottawa as “the closest of friends and allies” and vowed to work together to create a resilient “North American critical minerals supply chain”, saying it was vital to two countries’ economic and national security.
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Addressing the Canadian parliament the same day, Trudeau said economics and security were intertwined.
“With growing competition, including from an increasingly assertive China, there’s no doubt why it matters that we turn to each other now to build up a North American market on everything from semiconductors to solar panel batteries,” he said.
“Economic policy is climate policy, is security policy.”
“You can tell what I’m thinking,” he said, correcting himself.
The “two Michaels” were addressed by both leaders and received a standing ovation, with their presence seen as a direct message to Beijing.
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China and Canada have also been at odds due to allegations that Beijing tried to interfere in the last two Canadian elections.
“Foreign interference by authoritarian governments like China, Russia, Iran and others is a very real challenge to our democracies and is absolutely unacceptable,” Trudeau said in a joint press conference after the talks.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa said China was “strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposed” to the criticism from Trudeau and Biden.
The embassy said in a statement on WeChat that Canada and the US embraced and maintained a “cold war mentality” and engaged in bloc-based politics – criticisms that China often uses to target Western countries and mentioned in a joint statement signed between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
“Canada should abandon its ideological bias, immediately stop stigmatising Chinese institutions and personnel that are performing their duties normally, and immediately stop smearing and attacking China’s words and deeds,” it said.
On Spavor and Kovrig, the embassy said Chinese authorities handled the case in accordance with the law.
“Relations between China and Canada are facing difficulties, which China does not want to see, but the responsibility does not lie with the Chinese side,” it said.
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Biden’s trip north comes just days after Xi headed to Moscow to reaffirm his country’s economic links and “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Russia.
In the press conference after the talks, Biden rejected suggestions that China had expanded its economic and military commitments to Russia.
“I don’t take China lightly, I don’t take Russia lightly. But I think we vastly exaggerate [their partnership],” he said.
“I’ve been hearing now for the past three months about China is going to provide significant weapons to Russia … They haven’t yet. Doesn’t mean they won’t, but they haven’t yet.”
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Nevertheless, Canada and the US have agreed to C$7.3 billion (US$5.3 billion) investment to upgrade radars for the air and maritime warning system Norad, or North American Aerospace Defence Command.
The investment will “ensure Norad’s ability to deter and defend against emerging threats to our air and sea space and compete with China and Russia for years to come”, according to the joint statement.
While the White House did not refer to an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the two countries’ airspace, it did say “recent events have made clear the importance of Norad” and of the US and Canada’s “partnership on continental security and defence”.
In the statement, the US and Canada said they would continue imposing economic costs on Russia, while maintaining support for Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
The two countries also said their basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and underlined the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
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In addition, the US and Canada are aiming to strengthen supply chains as part of Biden’s push for a united front in the hi-tech war with China.
Canada has one of the largest deposits of minerals that are essential to electric car manufacturing and is positioning itself as a solution for other countries that are looking to reduce dependence on China for critical raw materials.
Trudeau warned that Western countries had long relied on imported goods and resources from suppliers with a bad record on the environment, human rights and labour standards.
The two neighbours will use the US CHIPS and Science Act to integrate semiconductor supply chains, including advancing “a cross-border packaging corridor”.
The cross-border packaging corridor will begin with Canada and IBM making “a significant investment” in developing new and expanded packaging and testing capacity at its Bromont facility near the US border.
The two countries also agreed to set up an energy transformation task force focusing on clean power. In his budget on Tuesday, Trudeau is expected to announce measures to help scale up critical mineral and clean-tech production.
Additional reporting by Jack Lau
