Canada's Prime Minister, Mark Carney has said that China is one of the largest threats with respect to foreign interference in Canada and is an emerging threat in the Arctic.
Carney stated this in a debate on Thursday night ahead of the April 28 election, when asked to name Canada's biggest security threat.
The new Canadian prime minister, when asked to elaborate at a news conference in Niagara Falls on Friday, said Canada has to counter Chinese foreign interference threats.
He also faulted China for being a partner with Russia in the war with Ukraine, saying it is a threat to broader Asia and Taiwan in particular.
According to him, China is the biggest threat from a geopolitical sense, adding that they were taking action to address it.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa has not yet commented on the issue.
Canada is also locked in a trade war with its long-term ally the United States.
Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to US tariffs on Canadian autos, steel and aluminum, and goods that do not comply with a North American Free Trade deal.
Carney said Canada would not try to match the US dollar for dollar in retaliation, but said the entire global trading system is being reordered.
“That level of shared values with the U.S. is shifting, so our level of engagement will shift,” he said.
