Despite end of Meng Wanzhou and ‘two Michaels’ crises, chill lingers over Canada-China relations
- Ottawa has not named a new ambassador to Beijing since Dominic Barton resigned, while China’s envoy departed Canada in January and apparently is still absent
- Experts say a lack of a coherent strategy with well-defined aims is deepening the Canadian government’s China conundrum
On December 6, 2021, Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, announced his resignation just months after the surprise resolution of the worst diplomatic crises in the history of Ottawa-Beijing relations.
In a parting statement that seemed an attempt to move relations beyond the difficult period, Barton wrote: “I believe that the relationship between Canada and China is of critical importance to our future … As I leave my role, my successor will be on strong footing to further this relationship.”
But six months on, the sprawling Canadian embassy compound in China’s capital is still waiting for its new boss.
“Whether it’s that the Canadian government has not proposed an ambassador to the Chinese authorities, or whether the Canadian government has proposed an ambassador and the Chinese authorities have not accepted that individual,” it was unclear why the post has been vacant for so long, said Charles Burton, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa-based think tank.
Barton’s tenure in Beijing coincided with Canada’s arrest of Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wenzhou at the request of the US government and the subsequent detentions by the Chinese government of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.