{"id":216582,"date":"2019-05-29T20:01:10","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T00:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=216582"},"modified":"2019-05-29T20:01:10","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T00:01:10","slug":"chinas-ambassador-makes-second-trip-to-nova-scotia-calls-mcneil-great-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/05\/29\/chinas-ambassador-makes-second-trip-to-nova-scotia-calls-mcneil-great-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s ambassador makes second trip to Nova Scotia, calls McNeil “great friend”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: I had a very positive meeting with China\u2019s Ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, today. Ambassador Lu has played a key role in our relationship w\/ Guangdong province, an important market for our world-class seafood, & recent host to an exhibit of works by Maud Lewis & other NS artists. (Photo<\/a>: @StephenMcNeil\/Twitter<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HALIFAX \u2014 Just days after saying\u00a0Canada’s ties with China have hit \u201crock bottom\u201d, China’s ambassador is praising Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil as \u201ca great friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lu Shaye made the comment during a photo opportunity that was held before the diplomat met Wednesday with the premier and several members\u00a0of\u00a0his cabinet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Nova Scotia and Mr. McNeil is on the forefront\u00a0of\u00a0co-operation with China amid all provinces in\u00a0Canada,\u201d Lu told reporters, who were not given the chance to ask questions during the photo session.<\/p>\n

Lu was previously in Halifax for meetings with provincial officials in November 2017, as the province pushed to expand its trade ties with China.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come to Halifax, Nova Scotia to meet again with my great friend Premier McNeil to host together the second working dialogue between the Chinese embassy and the provincial government\u00a0of\u00a0Nova Scotia,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m sure that the dialogue today will also be fruitful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meeting comes as tensions remain high between\u00a0Canada\u00a0and China following the December arrest in Vancouver\u00a0of\u00a0Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou after an American request for her extradition.<\/p>\n

After Meng’s arrest, China detained two Canadians \u2014 ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor \u2014 and accused them\u00a0of\u00a0violating China’s national security. China has also sentenced two Canadians to death for drug-related convictions and blocked key agricultural shipments.<\/p>\n

In a prepared text for a speech last Thursday, Lu remarked that he was saddened\u00a0Canada-China relations are at a \u201cfreezing point.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, McNeil, who has made seven trips to China since taking office in 2013, said Lu has been \u201ca champion\u201d\u00a0of\u00a0expanding trade ties between his province and China’s Guangdong province, where Nova Scotia exports large quantities\u00a0of\u00a0seafood.<\/p>\n

He also said the ambassador was a \u201cgreat help\u201d to the province in ensuring that an art exhibition featuring the works\u00a0of\u00a0famed folk artist Maud Lewis and six other female artists went ahead last month at the Guangdong Museum\u00a0of\u00a0Art after it had been abruptly postponed in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to very productive meetings today and continuing to build on what has become a very positive working relationship and friendship,\u201d McNeil said.<\/p>\n

The premier didn’t take questions from reporters, and a spokesman confirmed there would be no availability offered later in the day.<\/p>\n

McNeil returned from his latest trade mission to China just two weeks ago, telling reporters it was better to maintain a dialogue and to try to build relationships despite the worsening relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot having a conversation solves nothing,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n

During Wednesday’s meeting, officials, including five members\u00a0of\u00a0Nova Scotia’s cabinet, were expected to discuss a range\u00a0of\u00a0trade ties related to areas including seafood and agriculture, education, mining, and tourism.<\/p>\n

Nova Scotia’s exports to China totalled $794 million in 2018, up from $275 million in 2014.<\/p>\n

Both Lu and McNeil were expected to appear later Wednesday at a dinner in Halifax to officially launch the Atlantic chapter\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Canada\u00a0China Business Council.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HALIFAX \u2014 Just days after saying\u00a0Canada’s ties with China have hit \u201crock bottom\u201d, China’s ambassador is praising Nova Scotia Premier …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":216583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-keith-doucette","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216584,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216582\/revisions\/216584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}