China hopes that Canada can take actions as soon as possible as a sovereign state to remove the obstacles that hinder the development of China-Canada relations, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday as he met his Canadian counterpart in Rome during his Europe visit.
Wang said that although the two countries have had no conflicts of interests or historical disputes, the relationship now faces severe challenges since the arrest of Chinese citizen and Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
He said that Canadian leaders made the right move to establish diplomatic ties with China 50 years ago as this year marks the 50-year anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral relations.
The Canadian side should take actions as soon as possible to solve the problem and remove the major obstacle, he said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said that Canada is willing to continue to develop the bilateral ties with China and work with China to solve the current problem to advance diplomatic ties.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry later responded that the current difficulties in China-Canada relations are not caused by China, adding that the Canadian side knows very well what the crux of the problem is.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at Wednesday's press briefing when speaking about China's stance on the cases of two Canadians arrested in China.
The two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested on suspicion of crimes against state security in China and were both prosecuted for suspected foreign espionage and the illegal provision of state secrets in June.
Noting that Chinese authorities handled the case according to law and fully protect the two Canadians' legal rights, Zhao urged the Canadian side to respect the rule of law and respect China's judicial sovereignty.
"We urge the Canadian side to take immediate and effective measures to correct its mistakes and make concrete efforts to put bilateral relations back on track," the spokesperson added.