Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is dispatching her deputy minister, David Morrison, to China shortly in an effort to thaw relations with Beijing’s ruling Communist Party, sources say.
It remains unclear whether this is a prelude to Joly visiting China, a country that has been dominating discussions at a Canadian public inquiry into foreign interference deliberating in Ottawa.
Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he believes the Morrison visit could pave the way for a trip to Beijing by the Foreign Minister.
“It’s part of trying to find some form of accommodation because right now there is almost no exchanges,” Mr. Saint-Jacques said.
“It is the usual pattern,” he said of Morrison’s planned trip. “You send the deputy minister and he will be tasked to find enough to put together to justify the visit by the minister.”
