China Just Hit Canada Hard—And The Situation Is Spiraling Out Of Control

China Just Hit Canada Hard—And The Situation Is Spiraling Out Of Control
Think of Canada and China’s relationship like a traffic light that’s stuck between yellow and red—always teetering on the edge. Canada’s ambassador to China, Jennifer May, sums it up perfectly: some things are moving forward, but others feel stuck in reverse. This tension really started heating up back in December 2018, when two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested by Chinese authorities. This came right after Canada detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the request of the U.S. Kovrig and Spavor ended up spending a whopping 1,019 days behind bars, shaking up the diplomatic scene and making Canadians nervous about traveling to China—understandably so!

Jump to late 2022, and Canada announced its Indo-Pacific strategy, calling China an "increasingly disruptive global power." That’s not just a throwaway comment; it shows how serious Canada is about China’s growing assertiveness, especially with its military presence in the South China Sea. Still, Ambassador May makes it clear that Canada doesn’t see China as a pure enemy. There’s room for cooperation on issues like climate change and trade, though it’s complicated.