Canada’s response to the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak is winning unusual praise in China — a development that federal government sources here say is part of a broader re-engagement strategy aimed at repairing strained relations between the two countries.
News reports in Chinese state-run media, official government statements and messages posted by Chinese citizens online all suggest a warming trend in the Canada-China relationship — a relationship that’s been very tense since the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in 2018.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi applauded Canada for responding to China’s request for medical equipment, such as face masks and protective gear.
“On behalf of the people of China, we extend our appreciations. Thank you,” Wang told his Canadian counterpart François-Philippe Champagne at the Munich Security Conference. “This is a special relationship.”
His remarks mark a notable shift in tone since January by the ruling Communist Party, and it’s all the more remarkable given the overt animosity in the bilateral relationship over the past 14 months.
Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained by Chinese officials just days after Meng’s arrest; their detention is widely viewed as an act of retaliation for the arrest of the telecommunications executive on an extradition request from the United States. Another Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, was given a death sentence in January 2019 after having been previously sentenced to prison for drug smuggling. China also has blocked imports of Canadian agricultural products.
Government sources in this country tell CBC News that the so-called public health diplomacy by Canada has resulted in a new climate of diplomatic détente — and that relations with China are better now than they have been since at least 2018.
Canada has sent 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment, such as clothing, face shields, masks, goggles and gloves, to China since February 4, 2020. (Global Affairs Canada)
The coronavirus outbreak seems to be driving the sudden thaw. Canada needed Chinese approval to send a plane to the Chinese city of Wuhan to collect Canadians there who asked for help to leave. China, meanwhile, needed the international community’s help to grapple with the outbreak.
Global Affairs Canada said it had shipped about 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment to China this month, including clothing, face shields, masks, goggles and gloves. Ottawa also agreed to provide $2 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to help vulnerable countries prepare for a potential coronavirus outbreak beyond China.
Renowned Canadian epidemiologist Bruce Aylward recently made his way to China to lead a team of WHO experts to study the origin of the virus and the severity of the disease.
“This is Canada. And when in (times of) need, we want to be there and be able to provide assistance to the extent we can,” Champagne said this week.
That assistance, sources said, presented new opportunities for Ottawa to start repairing its relationship with China.
“We are engaging with each other. I think every time you have a chance to have a dialogue it’s something positive,” said Champagne, who added he raises the plight of the Canadian detainees in every discussion with Chinese officials.
Friday’s meeting marked the second time in two weeks the Canadian and Chinese foreign affairs ministers spoke with each other. Canada and China didn’t have a single ministerial-level meeting for eight months following Meng’s arrest.
The embassy’s charm offensive
Despite Canada’s decision to scale down its consular operations in China as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Canadian embassy in Beijing has been ramping up its outreach efforts on social media.
More than 2.3 million people follow the embassy’s page on Weibo, China’s most popular social media platform.
One widely-shared post from the embassy this month showed a photo of Canadian aid headed for Wuhan. Another cited Canada’s decision not to impose a travel ban on people coming from China.
The U.S., Australia and some European nations have enacted strict border controls, banning the entry of foreigners who travelled to China in the past 14 days. Canada says its approach is in line with the World Health Organization’s guidelines related to “inappropriate restrictions to travel and trade.”
Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China, sends a message of support to the people of China on the Weibo page of the Canadian embassy in Beijing. (The Embassy of Canada to China/Weibo)
Canada’s newly-appointed Ambassador to China Dominic Barton delivered one recent embassy video message in Mandarin, urging the citizens of Wuhan to “stay strong.”
On Weibo, Chinese citizens praised Canada’s actions. “China-Canada friendship lasts forever!” wrote one.
“Thank you! We will never forget the people who helped us when our country was in trouble,” says another online comment.
Those responses are a far cry from the comments the embassy’s Weibo page was getting just a month ago, when many Chinese were using it as a platform to vent their feelings about Canada’s troubled relations with China.
An anchor on China’s state-owned television broadcaster CCTV delivers a story about Canada’s help in combating the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. (CCTV)
Canada’s recent efforts have also attracted glowing headlines in state-owned media, and even in official Beijing.
“Our heartfelt thanks go to Canada for its support and assistance in China’s fight against the epidemic,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in a briefing this week.
Wenran Jiang, an adjunct professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, said that Canada’s recent efforts have been “extremely well received” in China.
“I think Chinese people – even Chinese officials – will probably have a second look on whether in the past year-plus they have been treating Canada too harsh, whether [they] should probably reconsider the [Kovrig and Spavor] cases,” Jiang predicted.
No one is suggesting the more complex outstanding issues between Canada and China will be easily repaired, or that Spavor and Kovrig will be freed tomorrow. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took an optimistic line this week.
“Yes, we are having challenges with China,” Trudeau said Friday in Munich, Germany, where he was attending an international security conference.
“In this recent coronavirus challenge and issue, Canada has been there to send medical supplies to China, to be supportive, to work with them and the WHO, to try and help where we can in resolving this.
“So just because you have a serious disagreement on an issue that may be extremely important to you and to Canadians, it can’t prevent you from continuing to talk and try to solve other things at the same time. There are far too many aspects to global relationships to not try and engage in a constructive way.”
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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