Canadian Press：The embassy has started to use the word 'bullying' to talk about what America is doing and I'm wondering is that the right word to use and if you could explain that a bit more, is America bullying other countries?

Ambassador Wang：Recently, the United States, out of its selfish interests, has imposed multiple rounds of unjustified tariffs on many other countries, and that is typical unilateralism and protectionism. 

At the same time, the United States has openly announced that it plans to annex another country, infringing upon the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country. That is in violation of the internationally recognized principle of respecting other countries' territorial integrity and sovereignty. And that is a typical hegemonic and bullying act. And what the United States has been saying and doing fully demonstrates that the United States is a hegemon that believes in the law of the jungle. And this will find no support in the world, and the United States will not get its way.

We have taken notice that faced with the U.S. unilateral bullying, Canada has not backed down. Instead, Canada is standing on the right side of the history, on the right side of international fairness and justice.

Likewise, China has also made resolute countermeasures against the unjustified unilateral U.S. tariffs. As far as I know, China and Canada are the only two countries in the world that have taken concrete and real countermeasures against the US tariffs.

China does this not only for the sake of protecting its own legitimate and lawful rights and interests, but also for the greater good of the international community. We are  fighting not only for China and Canada, but also for the international community. Because we want to avoid the situation where the humanity is brought back to a world of the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak again. I think it is fair to say that both Canada and China have shouldered our international and historical responsibilities.

China's position on the US bullying acts is very clear. If the United States is willing to talk with China, our door is open. But the negotiations must happen on the prerequisite of mutual respect and equality. But if the United States continues to make any substantial damage to China's interests, China will fight along to the end.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations and the 30th anniversary of the World Trade Organization. China is ready to take this opportunity to work with Canada and all the other countries to firmly uphold the UN-centered international system and the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime, to reject any regressive practices in the world, to advance economic globalization and multilateralism along the right direction, so that we can provide more certainty and stability to the world economy and global trade.

Thank you!

Canadian Press：I'm curious what Canada and China working together would look like  defending the UN Charter, and the WTO. Is there any specific project or is it an invitation for a dialogue from China to Canada?

Ambassador Wang：China has been communicating with Canada on the current situation. And I myself have had multiple rounds of communication with Canadian departments on this issue. And I have also sensed the positive willingness of the Canadian side to strengthen communication with China on this issue.

Canadian Press：I am sure you saw in the Thursday debate, Mark Carney said the greatest threat to Canada is China. We saw him repeat that in Niagara Falls. How do you work to pass that, to sort of build that collaboration?

Ambassador Wang：I think for quite some time what I have heard and seen is that people from all walks of life in Canada including the media and the general public are talking about the existential threat that Canada is facing. They believe that Canada should put up a resolute fight against these threats, including the threats to Canada's sovereignty and economic rights. And at the same time, they are also calling for a reflection upon the China policy that Canada has adopted in the past few years and calling on the Canadian government to strengthen practical cooperation with China.

So, I think to the question of what threat Canada is faced with, and whether China is Canada's threat, the answer is very clear in the calls and voices of the people of Canada. I hope that the Canadian government can listen carefully and earnestly to the voices of the people, reflect upon the policy it has taken towards China in the past few years, and work in the same direction with China to really advance practical cooperation between the two countries because this truly serves the shared interests of our two peoples.

If you want to know my answer to your question, my answer is clear: China is Canada's opportunity, not Canada's threat. If China and Canada can earnestly uphold the principle of correct perception, mutual respect and seeking common ground while reserving differences, the two countries can reinforce each other and make each other better. By working together, on the bilateral level, we can contribute to each other's development and  deliver real benefits to the two peoples. And on the international level, our two countries can jointly uphold the international fairness and justice, and multilateralism, so that we can provide more certainty and positive energy to the world fraught with challenges and turbulence.

Thank you!

Canadian Press：China often says that China and Canada are two countries that have natural overlap. While the US is pulling back, does China still want to trade with Canada? And the reason why I'm asking is because we saw the increase in oil exports to China, for example, and I think a lot of Canadians took notice of that. So where do you see those opportunities?

Ambassador Wang：Just as you have mentioned, China and Canada enjoy high complementarities in terms of resource endowments and economic structures.We have great potential in conducting trade with each other. China has been Canada's second largest trading partner for many years. According to China's numbers, last year, China-Canada trade reached US$93 billion and Canada exported 46.6 billion US dollars to China, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. That also represented the first time in many years that Canada is running a surplus with China in its trade. By the way, we don't believe that surplus is unfair to China. And we don't believe that China is losing just because it has a deficit with Canada. At the same time, last year, nearly 100 Canadian companies and institutions participated in the China International Import Expo in Shanghai, which is also a record high.

On top of that, one of the most important annual trade fairs is also happening in China, which is the Canton Fair. And according to our estimates, the number of Canadians that have applied  for visas to our Embassies to attend this Canton Fair this year increased 150% year on year. And this fully proves that there is a strong internal driving force for China-Canada trade to grow and we have real and actual needs for each other in trade. And this also fully shows that China-Canada trade is mutually beneficial in essence.

In addition, the steadily growing China economy has also provided vast opportunities for China-Canada trade. Last year, China's economy grew by 5%. And this year, China's GDP growth is also expected to be at around 5%. In Q1 of this year, China's GDP growth rate was 5.4%. China will continue to make its important contribution to the economic growth of the whole world.

As you may know, China's contribution rate to the world economic growth has stayed around 30% for many years. Now, the world economy is still struggling to recover and it is faced with a lot of uncertainties. This kind of situation, of course, has indeed caused some negative external impacts on China's economy. But don't forget that China is a huge market and we have a lot of tools in our policy toolkit. So China's economy will continue to move towards the goals we have set for ourselves and along the track that we have built for ourselves.

We welcome Canada to ride on the fast train of China's economy. And we are sincere in being ready to share the opportunities brought by China's high quality development. At the same time, we hope that this will be responded to by the same sincerity from the Canadian government, to provide impetus to the development of business cooperation between our two countries instead of any hold back. And we should give the driver's seat to market principles in China-Canada bilateral trade, instead of allowing our practical cooperation to be hijacked by any ideological biases because this ultimately will damage the interests of our two peoples.

Thank you!

Canadian Press：I'm curious about Western Canada. China has  imposed retaliatory tariffs on canola and on animal products. It's really a hit for Western Canada. At the same time, Western Canada has a closer economic tie with China. What sort of message do you have for Western Canada?

Ambassador Wang：China's countermeasures on some of the Canadian products is a response to the unilateral tariffs that Canada imposed on Chinese products. As you are clearly aware, last year the Canadian government, in disregard of the multiple rounds of dissuasion and strong opposition of the Chinese side, insisted on imposing  unilateral tariffs on Chinese EVs and steel and aluminum products.

So that is why in September last year China started an anti-discrimination investigation. And the result of the investigation is that Canada's unilateral tariffs are discriminatory in essence. In accordance with China's domestic laws and regulations and the basic principles of the international law, China decided to impose countermeasures on Canada's products. So the causes of the counter tariffs are very clear and the merits of this case are also very clear. We urge Canada to respect the facts and the WTO rules and rectify its wrongdoing immediately.

As I said, we should give the market principles and rules the dominant role. What the two governments of our two countries should be doing is to provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for the business of our countries to conduct trade.

China's countermeasures are not permanent. They can be adjusted in light with the adjustments and changes of the Canadian policies. So we hope that Canada can take measures to rectify its wrongdoings as soon as possible.

As for the trade and economic cooperation and relationship between China and Western Canada, China has always been attaching great importance to that. Like you said, in geographic sense, Western Canada is the closest part of Canada to China. Well, to some extent, we are neighbors across the Pacific Ocean. China has maintained a close relationship with Western Canada and last week I just had a virtual call with Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan. We had a very good conversation and have reached extensive consensus on how we should continue to advance practical cooperation between our two sides.

And in February this year I visited BC province for the Spring Festival celebrations and during that event I also met with the Premier of BC, David Eby. And we also had a very good discussion about how both sides can move forward the cooperation between BC and some of the Chinese provinces.

All in all, we look forward and hope that the practical cooperation between Western Canada and China can enjoy greater development in the future, and China is positive on that. We believe there will be a lot of opportunities and the potential is huge. 

Thank you!

Canadian Press：China has been talking about respecting market rules and rejecting bullying. But Canada still has concerns on the predictability and rule of law of the Chinese market. And when the Canadian people saw China talking about opposing bullying, they think of the Two Micheals. You also mentioned the three principles. I’m just wondering is there any change to China’s position towards Canada?

Ambassador Wang：Ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Canada, China's position towards Canada has been consistent. China has always regarded Canada as our friend and partner.But I must point it out that for the bilateral relationship to go well, it takes two to tango. If there is only China’s commitment, it will not work.   

In the nearly past one year of communications with Canadian friends, I have always been stressing this one very important point. That is correct perception is a first priority for the bilateral relationship to move along the right track. I think the history in the past 55 years of our diplomatic relations has fully proven that whenever there was correct perception, mutual respect and seeking common ground while putting aside differences, our relationship enjoyed a smooth period and win-win outcomes.

Whenever the perception was wrong and when differences were not managed in a positive and constructive manner, and when our relationship was dominated by ideological biases, the bilateral relationship would definitely suffer. The setbacks in our bilateral relationships in the past few years are not caused by China and are not something that China wants to see.

Now, China is ready to move forward and look ahead. We hope that Canada can work together with China and meet us halfway, so that we can move our relationship back to the right track on the right basis. The right basis is what I said, correct perception, mutual respect and seeking common ground while shelving differences.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, people from all walks of life and from all sectors of Canada are calling for more practical cooperation with China and are calling for a reflection on Canada's China policy. So I hope the bilateral relationship could be reset on the right basis. China regards Canada as a friend, as always. The question is whether Canada sees China as a friend. If we both believe each other is a friend and partner, our cooperation in the future will enjoy bright prospects. Otherwise, it won't be hard to imagine that in the future our relationship will still encounter this or that kind of problems. So the responsibilities that we have is to build a right basis for our relationship to move along the right direction.

As the Chinese ambassador to Canada, I am ready anytime to work with my Canadian counterparts and colleagues to make contribution for this to happen. And I also hope that I will be able to enjoy the support from people of all walks of life of Canada, including the media.

Thank you!

Canadian Press：Canada-China relations have met difficulties in the past few years. And we had COVID, now Trump is back. We are in a unpredictable world. Are you optimistic about the relationship in the short term? What actions should be taken to improve?

Ambassador Wang：Compared with last year when I just arrived in Canada, I am more optimistic about China-Canada relationship now. In particular, the voice of so many Canadian people, Canadian businesses, industries and Canadian media calling for stronger practical cooperation with China is much stronger than when I arrived.

So that is to say, China-Canada relationship enjoys both a very profound historical foundation, and  a vast public support of stronger relationship between our two countries here in Canada.

In China, we often say that one cannot go against the will of the people. As a government, whenever or whatever it does, it should serve the interests of the people. So I believe as long as both sides can listen carefully to the voices of the people and advance our practical cooperation, the bilateral relationship will be able to see a big positive development in the short term.

As I have shared with you some of the numbers, these numbers fully prove that our bilateral relationship is based on the actual needs of our two countries and the strong internal driving force. It's been more than eleven months since I arrived. And in the past eleven months I've seen a lot of positive changes in our bilateral relationship and I hope and I am confident that in the next eleven months there will be faster and greater positive changes in the bilateral relationship. I hope that Canada will work together with us.