The foreign ministers of Canada and China conducted a phone call, during which both sides expressed their hope to maintain communication to improve the difficult situation in Canada-China relations.

Since Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou at the end of 2018 and the subsequent Mike incidents, Canada-China relations have been strained. Canada will later hold hearings on foreign interference, including China’s interference in its elections.

Global Affairs Canada also issued a statement saying that Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly outlined priorities for cooperation, including combating climate change, deepening economic relations, and people-to-people relations. The two sides exchanged views on a range of global and regional issues, including the Israeli-Kazakh conflict, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region.

The statement said that Qiao Milian and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi believe that despite recent challenges in bilateral relations, it is important to keep channels of communication open.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement on Friday evening, saying that the difficulties in bilateral relations were not caused by China, and that the main reason for the decline in China-Canada relations in recent years is Canada’s serious deviation in its understanding of China.

Before Taiwan’s elections at the end of this week, Wang Yi reaffirmed the One China principle to Canada.

In 2023, tensions escalated when Beijing also expelled a Canadian diplomat in May after the Canadian government asked a Chinese diplomat in Toronto to leave. In October, China complained that a Canadian military aircraft violated its sovereignty and national security.