Canada PM Trudeau says he hopes to meet China’s Xi one day once tensions defused
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had "a good exchange" with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Apec summit in San Francisco.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OTTAWA – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Nov 17 said he hoped to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping once the two sides had put in the work needed to repair badly strained bilateral ties.
China and Canada have had poor relations for years amid disagreements over human rights and complaints by Ottawa about alleged Chinese interference in the last two elections.
Mr Trudeau, who is at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in San Francisco, said he had “a good exchange” with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the meeting and told the Chinese leader the two sides needed to try to create a constructive dialogue.
“I think people realise to what extent we have had our differences and major challenges in our relations with China in recent years,” he told a televised news conference.
“There is a gradual engagement which is continuing and will lead – I hope – to an eventual meeting, but I don’t think we are at that point yet.”
At the Group of 20 summit in 2022, the two leaders had a testy exchange
Mr Xi had a four-hour meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec summit. Mr Biden subsequently said he had not changed his view that Mr Xi was effectively a dictator
Asked whether he agreed with this assessment, Mr Trudeau replied: “China’s a one-party state. I don’t think anyone would call it a democracy.” REUTERS
