Prime Minister Trudeau has had ups and downs when it comes to his relationship with China but he has made some major mistakes along the way.
Trudeau declined to answer questions regarding updated coronavirus numbers in China
The death toll in China was drastically revised in April and many people were not surprised by the new higher records.
Trudeau appeared indifferent to the updates. When asked to comment on them he proceeded to dodge the question and stated that his only concern is that Canadians see "support" and "protection."
Trudeau waited too long to ban travel from China to Canada after the coronavirus outbreak
The Prime Minister didn’t ban people from travelling to Canada from China until the airlines were already making that decision themselves. Trudeau took his time in making this decision as other countries began closing their borders.
In mid-March, Trudeau eventually banned non-Canadian citizens from entering the country.
"We’re going to stay focused on doing the things that actually matter: on empowering Canadians to make the right decisions for their own health, for their families’ health, listening to experts, working to coordinate with health authorities across the country, including in all provinces and territories and ensuring that our response is active and up to date every step of the way." Trudeau said.
Trudeau mistakenly referred to Japan as 'China' while visiting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Trudeau underestimated the impact of China’s response to arrest of Huawei CFO
After Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou in Dec. 2018, Trudeau mistakenly underestimated the harsh response from China. This was after his relations with China became shaky following his visit in 2017.
After they were briefed on the arrest, the Liberals were given enough time to make a plan to reduce the severity of the arrest or reach out to the Chinese government but did not do so.
Shortly after this, two Canadians—Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor—were detained in China.
Trudeau failed to bring home Michael Spavor and Michael Korvig
In December 2018, the two men were detained on charges of endangering state security shortly after Canada detained Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou.
Michael Spavor and Michael Korvig have now been detained for over 500 days.
They were seeing monthly consular visits which were suspended by China due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trudeau attended a cash-for-access fundraiser involving Chinese billionaires who later donated to his father's foundation
Trudeau was present at a fundraiser that took place at the mansion of a wealthy Chinese-Canadian businessman in May. One of the guests present at the event was a donor looking for Ottawa’s approval to start operations on a bank targeting the Chinese community in Canada.
Also present at the event was Chinese businessman, Bin Zhang who along with a partner, made a $1 million donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation along with the University of Montreal Faculty of Law just weeks after the event.
This appears to breach the ethical rules Trudeau laid down after taking office which state "there should be no preferential access, or appearance of preferential access" in exchange for political donations.
The fundraiser also appears to go against the Liberal Party guidelines requiring party officials not to allow people with direct business interests with the government to attend those types of events.
Trudeau said he admires China's 'basic dictatorship'
In 2013 Trudeau received backlash after stating that he admires China’s "basic dictatorship" when speaking at a fundraising event in Toronto.
Trudeau said: "There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say, ‘We need to go green … we need to start investing in solar.’"
Trudeau was too focused on virtue signalling when outbreak began
When the coronavirus outbreak began, Trudeau appeared more focused on his ethical appearance than the safety of Canadians.
"There is no place for discrimination driven by fear," said Trudeau when speaking at a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on Feb. 1.
Condemning racism is a good thing but Trudeau put too much time into making other comments about racism connected to the coronavirus outbreak before looking at the big picture and ensuring the safety of the public.
Trudeau would not condemn China for its handling of the pandemic
Trudeau was criticized by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer for this reason.
"It’s becoming more and more clear we cannot depend on China as a reliable ally, as a partner in our values," said Scheer.
"We need to re-think our relationship with China."
Trudeau spoke about the issue at a press briefing saying, “My job right now is to make sure that Canadians get the best support, the best protection, and are able to get through this as best we possibly can."
"There will be plenty of time to point fingers, to ask questions to draw conclusions and to make sure that there are consequences for things that different countries may have done during this pandemic right now. My job is to look out for Canadians."
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