On April 24th, according to the website of the Chinese Embassy in Canada, on April 21st, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di was interviewed by Dylan Robertson, a reporter from Canada’s largest news agency, the Canadian News Agency, at the embassy. The interview section is recorded as follows: Canada News Agency: China has recently imposed retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural products such as rapeseed oil, which has had a significant impact on the western region of Canada. However, at the same time, the western region of Canada has close economic ties with China. Do you have anything to say to the Gassy region? Ambassador Wang Di: The countermeasures taken by China against Canadian products are a response to Canada’s unilateral discriminatory tariffs against China. You are also very aware that last year the Canadian government, despite China’s repeated dissuasion and strong opposition, insisted on imposing unilateral discriminatory tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products. So last September, China launched an anti discrimination investigation. The investigation determined that Canada’s unilateral tariffs constitute discriminatory measures. According to relevant Chinese laws and regulations and basic principles of international law, China has announced the imposition of countermeasures tariffs on some Canadian products. The causes, consequences, and right and wrong of this matter are very clear. We urge Canada to respect objective facts and WTO rules, and immediately correct its erroneous practices. As I just said, market principles should play a leading role, and as the governments of both countries, they should provide a fair, non discriminatory, and predictable environment for cooperation between their enterprises. China’s countermeasures are not permanent measures and can be adjusted according to Canada’s policy adjustments. We hope that Canada can take measures as soon as possible to correct the erroneous practices. As for the economic and trade cooperation between China and the western region of Canada that you mentioned, China has always attached great importance to it. Geographically speaking, western Canada is the closest to China, and to some extent, it is a neighbor across the Pacific Ocean from China. So we maintain close contact with the Kashgar region. I just had a video conference with the Governor of Sa Province, Moi, last week. We had a great conversation and reached a lot of consensus on promoting practical cooperation between the two sides. This year’s Spring Festival, when I went to British Columbia (BC) to participate in the Chinese New Year celebration, I had a good exchange with BC Governor Abi on how to promote cooperation between BC and relevant provinces in China. In short, we look forward to greater progress in pragmatic cooperation between the Western Caribbean region and China in the future, and China holds a positive attitude towards this. We believe that there are many opportunities and potential for cooperation between both parties.
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