China's foreign minister visits Ottawa for first time in decade

China's foreign minister Wang Yi is coming to Ottawa next week—a visit that carries weight precisely because it hasn't happened in a decade. The trip, scheduled for May 28 through May 30, marks a significant moment in a relationship that had grown so cold it seemed almost frozen.

Wang will meet with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand to discuss the recently refreshed Canada-China Strategic Partnership, a framework that touches on trade, investment, and global security. The announcement came Friday from Anand's office, framed as a continuation of diplomatic momentum that began earlier this year when Prime Minister Mark Carney traveled to Beijing in January—itself a milestone, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017.

That earlier trip was the real turning point. For years, the relationship between Ottawa and Beijing had been defined by mutual detention and escalating mistrust. In 2018, Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on an American extradition request. China responded by detaining two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, in what many observers understood as retaliation. The two countries drifted further apart, the relationship becoming a study in how quickly diplomatic ties can corrode. When Carney and Anand arrived in Beijing in January, it signaled a deliberate effort to reset that dynamic.

China's Foreign Ministry has characterized the shift in language that suggests both sides are eager to move forward. A spokesman, Guo Jiakun, described the relationship as having "maintained a positive momentum of growth after experiencing a turnaround," and called the upcoming Ottawa visit significant for "consolidating the positive momentum in the turnaround of bilateral relations." The phrasing is careful, diplomatic—the kind of language used when both parties want to signal that the worst is behind them.

But the visit has not arrived without friction. Within Canada's own communities, particularly among those who have long advocated for democratic movements in China, there is concern that economic pragmatism is overriding principle. Edmund Leung, chair of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, expressed this tension directly: the government, he suggested, cannot simply trade away its values in pursuit of business deals. "So to me, it's almost like they are turning a blind eye on the human rights issues in the name of economic interest," he said. It's a criticism that cuts to the heart of what this diplomatic thaw really means—whether it represents genuine reconciliation or a calculated choice to prioritize commerce over conscience.

Wang's schedule underscores the diplomatic choreography at work. Before arriving in Ottawa, he will be in New York for a United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday, a reminder that these visits exist within a larger architecture of international relations. The Ottawa leg is the main event, but it's part of a broader engagement that positions both countries as serious players in global affairs.

What happens in those three days in late May will likely set the tone for how Canada and China relate to each other over the coming years. The relationship has moved from crisis to conversation, but whether it can move from conversation to genuine partnership—one that doesn't require either side to look away from uncomfortable truths—remains an open question.