In his recent exclusive interview with Reuters, H. E. Wang Di, Chinese Ambassador to Canada, emphasized China’s position on the Taiwan Question as follows:

Reuters: Did China formally object to the Canadian warship that went through the Taiwan Strait? Canadian lawmaker Michael Chong recently visited Taiwan. His position is that these are international waters and Canadian lawmakers have long visited Taiwan. What’s your response to that criticism that he hasn’t done anything to breach previous protocol?

Ambassador Wang Di: The one-China principle is an important political foundation for China to establish diplomatic ties and to advance practical cooperation with any other country in the world. It is also a universal consensus among the international community, one of the most important international relations norms, and an important part of the post-WWII international order. For the vast majority of the international community, what one China means is very clear. During my over two years here in Canada, I have expounded on China’s position on the one-China principle multiple times. And the Canadian side has reaffirmed their commitment to one China many times as well. We hope that the Canadian side can honour its one-China commitment with concrete actions. When I laid out the four principles of how we should advance China-Canada relationship, the first one is mutual respect and mutual respect first means respect each other’s core interests.

Reuters: There’s a delegation of Canadian lawmakers planning to visit Taiwan in the fall. How would China view that? Will they consider something like sanctions as what were used against some New Zealand politicians?

Ambassador Wang Di: China has consistently emphasized that parliamentarians are of official status, and opposes any countries that have diplomatic ties with China conducting any official engagement, including parliamentarians’ engagement, with Taiwan. Canadian lawmakers’ past visits to Taiwan cannot be used for justification. What I would like to stress is that previous wrongdoings can not be an excuse for continuing to make the same mistakes in the future.  

Reuters: Would actions like this threaten Canada-China trade relationship？

Ambassador Wang Di: I’ve made myself very clear that if we want to get the relationship between China and Canada right, we must uphold the principles of mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, seeking strategic autonomy and pursuing win-win and mutually beneficial outcomes. Whenever these principles are not followed, it will naturally cause negative impact. The history of China-Canada relationship has proved time and again that whenever China and Canada do the right things, the bilateral relationship goes smoothly; whenever that is not the case, the relationship suffers setbacks. The responsibility of the government is to make sure that our relationship goes along the right direction.