OTTAWA — Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said on Friday that human rights have been on the agenda during his trade mission to China.
Speaking to reporters from Beijing, Champagne said that supply chain integrity has been a recurring theme of discussions he’s had with Chinese officials.
“We did speak about supply chain integrity,” said Champagne. “That was a core message that I conveyed to our Chinese counterparts, to say that, obviously, Canada puts a lot of importance on (this) and that our bilateral trade need to be conducted in accordance with international standards.
“This is a point that I’ve made very clearly to different counterparts that we’ve met here in China during our visit,” he said.
Champagne was wrapping up a
focused on deepening integration in financial services. He was joined by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and leaders from various Canadian banks and other financial institutions.
He met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an, among other top officials.
The Champagne-led visit followed up on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to China in January, which was the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister in eight years.
The visit comes a week after fellow Liberal MP Michael Ma appeared to question the existence of forced labour in China, in a committee performance that was
applauded by Chinese state media
. Ma apologized for sounding dismissive on the “serious issue” of forced labour. He also clarified that his line of questioning concerned the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and not the entire country.
Carney subsequently declined to give a direct answer when asked on Monday whether he believes there is forced labour in China.
“There is (the) existence of child labour and forced labour around the world,” said Carney, adding that there are “parts of China that are higher risk” for the practices.
Carney said he expected Champagne to discuss “issues of supply chain integrity, including forced labour (and) child labour,” during his visit to China.
Canada’s House of Commons
voted unanimously in February 2021
to declare China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority population a genocide after multiple organizations reported the Uyghurs were being used as forced labour.
Champagne was also asked on Friday about whether he’d welcome Chinese auto plants in Canada, and he didn’t close the door on the idea.
“We are focused and pragmatic in how we want to engage,” the finance minister said in response to a question about potential Chinese auto sector investment in Canada. “It was very clear where we could trade when the interests of Canada and China would align.”
He said his government is not on board with U.S. automaker
to open its idled Brampton, Ont., plant to Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Leapmotor.
Some of Leapmotor’s overseas operations use knockdown kits, which involve building most of the vehicle in China and shipping the components overseas for final assembly.
“(Our position) is to insist on Stellantis respecting the letter and the spirit of the commitment they made to the government of Canada, and to the workers of Stellantis in Brampton,” said Champagne.
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