Friday, November 22, 2024

Canada, China insist they have a role to play in keeping Red Sea safe

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Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said on Sunday that China must play a role in keeping the Red Sea commercially safe, as Chinese ships are also at risk, and urged Beijing to help Russia evade international sanctions. I asked him to stop.

Joly said in an interview that he told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during bilateral talks on Saturday that Beijing needed “support to influence the Houthis to keep the Red Sea open.” Stated.

“It’s in China’s interest as an exporting country,” Joly told Reuters by phone on the last day of the Munich Security Conference.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, including the oil tanker M/T Pollux, which U.S. officials said was hit by a missile attack on Friday. It will be done.

The Houthis have claimed the attack was in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but it has disrupted a key trade route between Asia and Europe, widely used by ships from China, and is costing them money in shipping and insurance costs. is soaring. The United States and Britain have both called on China to intervene through Iran to curb the attacks.

In this photo released on November 20, 2023, the Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea. (Credit: Houthi military media/handout via Reuters)

Joly also said he spoke with Yee about ensuring Western sanctions against Russia remain in place as the Ukraine war drags on.

“We need to put maximum pressure on Russia,” Joly said. “Our sanctions are strong, but we cannot allow China to become a loophole in our sanctions regime.”

Last year Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become China’s biggest oil supplier, as the world’s biggest oil importer defied Western sanctions and bought large quantities of crude at discounted prices for processing plants.

Chinese refiners use intermediaries to handle the transportation and insurance of Russian crude to avoid violating Western sanctions.

After meeting with Jolie on Saturday, Yee spoke of the need to “rebuild trust” with Canada after years of diplomatic tensions.

Relations between China and Canada

Relations between China and Canada soured in late 2018 after Canadian police detained an executive at a Chinese telecommunications company. Shortly after, the Chinese government arrested two Canadians on suspicion of espionage.

Canada’s parliament has pursued allegations of Chinese election interference, which China has repeatedly denied, and relations remained strained through much of last year.







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