Jinping

Jan. 16 (UPI) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday where they unveiled a “strategic partnership,” including a new trade deal, amid a thaw of an almost decade-long deep freeze in relations between the two countries.

Welcoming Carney at the Great Hall of the People, the first visit of a Canadian leader in eight years, Xi lauded the “turnaround,” noting that cooperation in recent months had already yielded “positive results” and that he was committed to further strengthening the relationship.

Carney said the relationship would deliver “stability, security and prosperity” for Chinese and Canadians alike, saying agriculture, energy and finance were the issues where efforts should be directed.

“That’s where we can make most immediate progress,” he said.

After their meeting, Carney emerged to announce a five-point partnership — the fruit of “recalibrating distant and uncertain ties” since he came into office in March — with a focus on boosting agri-food trade and clean energy and climate competitiveness, along with championing multilateralism and cultural exchange.

The trade deal will see China slash tariffs on Canadian canola seeds, peas and shellfish — worth as much as $3 billion in new orders — in exchange for Canada slashing its 100% tariff on 49,000 Chinese-made electric to just 6.1%, and Chinese investment in the development of clean power.

The deal unlocks an expected flow of Canadian investment in the other direction into aerospace, sectors, including services, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, as well as a potential increase in oil and gas exports to China.

Carney’s visit kicked off with a meeting Thursday with Premier Li Qiang with the Canadian delegation holding a series of ministerial-level meetings that yielded an MOU to hold more in-depth discussions oil and gas resource development, including LNG along with LPG, as well as cutting emissions.

“They are very clear, they would like more Canadian products,” said Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.

At a news conference with Li, Carney said the progress made in their new partnership would help position Canada and China up “for the new world order.”

He later clarified, saying what he meant was the decades-old multilateral, rules-based international order was no longer intact and was being superseded by a new one.

“The world is still determining what that order is going to be. The multilateral system that has been developing these has been eroded, to use a polite term, or undercut,” he explained.

Carney stressed Friday that differences between the two sides remained and that he had emphasized to Xi areas where Canada would never compromise, including human rights and issues such as election interference.

Ties have been stretched to the limit by a series of diplomatic and trade frictions dating back years but relations took a nose-dive in 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant, with China retaliating by detaining Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig on espionage charges.

All three eventually made it home after a swap in 2021 but relations were tested again in 2023 after Ottawa accused Beijing of attempting to influence the result of Canadian federal elections in 2019 and 2021.

More recently, the Canadian government condemned China in March for executing four dual Chinese-Canadian citizens on drug-related charges.

Taiwan’s Lai pledges to defend national sovereignty after Beijing holds live-fire drills around island.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to achieve the “reunification” of China and Taiwan, calling Beijing’s long-held goal “unstoppable.”

In a New Year’s address delivered a day after China’s military wrapped up war games around Taiwan, Xi on Wednesday invoked the “bond of blood and kinship” between Chinese people on each side of the Taiwan Strait.

“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” Xi said.

Xi also hailed the institution in 2025 of an annual “Taiwan Recovery Day”, marking the end of imperial Japan’s rule of the island at the end of World War II.

Xi’s speech came on the heels of two days of live-fire drills simulating a blockade of the island, in what officials called a “stern warning” against “separatist” and “external interference” forces.

The drills were the largest ever held around Taiwan in terms of geographical area.

The war games, codenamed “Justice Mission 2025”, came just days after the United States approved its largest-ever arms package to Taiwan, valued at $11.1bn.

China views self-governing Taiwan as part of its territory and has long pledged to bring the island under its control, using force if necessary.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party maintains that the island is a de facto independent country, though it has not formally declared independence.

In his New Year’s Day address on Thursday, Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te pledged to “firmly” uphold national sovereignty and boost the island’s defences.

“In the face of China’s escalating expansionist ambitions, the international community is closely watching whether the people of Taiwan have the determination to defend themselves,” Lai said.

While Taiwan elects its leaders and has its own military, passport and currency, the island is officially recognised by just 11 countries and Vatican City.

China insists that countries do not officially recognise Taipei in order to maintain diplomatic ties with Beijing.

Although the US does not officially recognise Taiwan, Washington is committed to helping the island to defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.

While Washington is Taipei’s principal supplier of arms, the law does not stipulate any obligation to directly intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese blockade or invasion.

Opinion polls suggest a large majority of Taiwanese favour the status quo, with much smaller proportions supporting imminent moves towards formal independence or unification.

In his speech on Wednesday, Xi also hailed China’s innovation in industries including artificial intelligence and space.

“We sought to energise high-quality development through innovation. We integrated science and technology deeply with industries, and made a stream of new innovations,” he said.

“Many large AI models have been competing in a race to the top, and breakthroughs have been achieved in the research and development of our own chips. All this has turned China into one of the economies with the fastest-growing innovation capabilities.”

President Lee Jae Myung will make a state visit to China early next week for summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday, with the leaders expected to discuss ways to strengthen strategic cooperation and bilateral economic ties.

Lee is scheduled to depart for Beijing on Sunday for summit talks with Xi. On next Tuesday, Lee will travel to Shanghai before returning home on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a briefing.

The meeting will be the leaders’ second since their first summit talks on Nov. 1 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.

It marks Lee’s first visit to China since taking office in June and the first state visit to China by a South Korean president since 2017.

Their first meeting in two months is expected to build on the momentum toward fully restoring “strategic cooperative partnership” between the two nations, according to the spokesperson.

“They are expected to discuss ways to produce tangible results that directly benefit people in both countries, including cooperation in supply chain investments, the digital economy and responses to transnational crime,” Kang said.

The planned visit comes as Lee has pledged to manage relations with China — South Korea’s largest trading partner and a key economic backer of North Korea — in a stable manner, amid Seoul’s efforts to bring Pyongyang back to the dialogue table.

Seoul has urged Beijing to play a constructive role in fostering conditions for the resumption of dialogue with North Korea, with China reaffirming its commitment to stability on the Korean Peninsula.

While in Shanghai, Lee will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Korean independence hero Kim Gu (1876-1949) and the centennial anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in the city.

Kim was a key leader of the independence movement during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule and served as president of the provisional government in Shanghai.

Lee is also scheduled to attend business events aimed at boosting partnerships between venture and startup companies from the two countries, Kang said.

The two countries plan to sign several memorandums of understanding covering a range of cooperation areas during the visit, she added, noting that further details will be released later.

According to industry sources, a large-scale business delegation led by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is expected to accompany Lee on the trip.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo are also likely to join the delegation organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the sources said.

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