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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led a Group of Seven discussion of China on Saturday and called on leaders to come up with a unified approach to the challenges posed by the People’s Republic, a source said.
G7 leaders — who together control about $40 trillion in economic clout — reached broad alignment on building a concerted approach to China, the source with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
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“Trudeau’s message today was that we really need to work to build a consensus on a unified approach to the challenges that China presents all of us,” the source said. “We have to show solidarity as a group and show action as a group as well.”
“There is a general alignment” at the G7 on China, the source said.
Postcard from Carbis Bay: Here we are on a lovely beach and, wait, is that Justin Trudeau?
Trudeau lands in England for G7 summit as leaders pressed to share COVID-19 vaccines
The Prime Minister faced a call from the Opposition Conservatives ahead of the summit for him to press his democratic peers to take a collective stand against China and push for the relocation of the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
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The Associated Press is reporting that United States President Joe Biden is set to make such a move by asking the G7 leaders to call out China for its use of forced labour practices against ethnic minorities, including Uyghur Muslims.
It cites two senior administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reporters, saying the president wants to see the denunciation inked into a communique signed between all the countries when the summit concludes on Sunday.
It’s unclear what exactly Trudeau will have to say to his allies about China.
Members of own his Liberal party and opposition MPs voted back in February in favour of a Conservative motion that labelled China’s treatment of Muslim Uyghurs in its Xinjiang province as a genocide.
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Trudeau and most of his cabinet abstained from the vote.
Stopping short of calling it a genocide, the prime minister has characterized China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other ethic minorities as amounting to “systematic human rights abuses.”
Canada also joined the United Kingdom, U.S., and European Union in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials over these actions, which it said was supported by “mounting evidence.”
Canada’s relationship with China has been under a microscope since it detained Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadian citizens, following the 2018 arrest of a Huawei Technologies executive for extradition to the United States on fraud charges.
Trudeau has said officials are working hard to get both men home and views their detention as a retaliatory pressure tactic from the state over Meng Wanzhou’s arrest.
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Canada is also under pressure to decide how much longer to keep the land border with the U.S. closed as more of its population is getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Speaking on condition of anonymity to reporters on the trip, a federal official said Trudeau and Biden discussed the border when they talked on the side of another session with G7 leaders.
The two leaders talked about the steps both countries are considering to “cautiously” and “gradually” make changes to the border closure, the official said.
The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel for more than a year after an agreement was struck between both countries in hopes to keep COVID-19 from spreading.
Trudeau and Biden also talked about China, and the work happening to get Kovrig and Spavor released, according to the official.
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The Canadian prime minister started the second day of his summit bumping elbows and smiling for the cameras with French President Emanuel Macron ahead of the pair’s bilateral meeting.
A readout from Trudeau’s office said they agreed to collaborate on a list of initiatives, from developing cultural exchanges and making new commitments to promoting gender equality, particularly in the economic recovery from COVID-19.
He was also set to meet Saturday with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Next to Merkel, who doesn’t plan to seek re-election after her current term in office expires, Trudeau is the second-longest serving leader out of his G7 colleagues.
Vaccine sharing
A Canadian government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says Canada will pledge up to 100 million doses, including what it bought for others in vaccine sharing initiatives.
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The day before the summit, the U.K. promised to send at least 100 million doses within the next year, and U.S. President Joe Biden pledged he would send away another half a billion.
France and Germany have promised at least 30 million doses this year. Japan has committed to 30 million doses while Italy has promised 15 million doses.
Last week, Canada announced it was doubling its direct cash donation to COVAX to buy doses for developing countries, from $220 million to $440 million.
It seems like Canada is trying to put a good face on things with public pressure being increased
Dr. Srinivas Murthy, a critical care pediatric specialist in Vancouver with a research focus on pandemic preparedness, said then that the focus on money is a bit of a smoke screen for not sharing actual vaccines.
“It seems like Canada is trying to put a good face on things with public pressure being increased on this subject, both internally and globally,” he said in a recent interview.
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“But they’re landing on ⦠sending money rather than doses, which I think isn’t going to solve the problem urgently.”
Murthy said COVAX will need more money to buy doses, but there aren’t trucks full of doses just sitting waiting for a buyer.
“Obviously, they need more money to buy more doses from the main companies, but it’s vaccines, not money at this point in the pandemic that’s required globally.”
Trudeau started Friday not with another G7 leader, but in a virtual audience with Queen Elizabeth.
His first leader-to-leader sit-down happened with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who, as host of the summit, stated he wants the three-day gathering to produce promises on ways to end the pandemic by the end of next year.
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Posing for photographers and journalists, the pair stood elbow-to-elbow, with Johnson flashing a thumbs up before their meeting started.
“The leaders agreed a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the U.K. and Canada would unlock huge opportunities for both of our countries. They agreed to redouble their efforts to secure an FTA as soon as possible,” according to a readout of their conversation from the U.K.’s High Commission in Canada.
“They discussed a number of foreign policy issues including China and Iran. The prime minister thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for Canada’s leadership on the international response following the downing of the Ukraine International Airlines plane in Tehran last year.”
Trudeau also made his first public appearance alongside Biden since he was elected to the White House last fall, when all the leaders posed for a group photo along a beach.
The pair didn’t say much to each other, if anything, while posing for cameras and journalists. Trudeau mostly kept to himself while the leaders made their public appearances.
They sat down together later Friday to be part of a session focused how the health and economic recovery from COVID-19 can be “for all.”
With files from The Associated Press and Mia Rabson
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