As Canada looks to recalibrate relations with China amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S., former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig is warning against making China “the core” of its economic diversification strategy.

“Making China the core of that strategy (is) not a good idea, because it’s not geopolitically a reliable partner,” Kovrig said in an exclusive interview with CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday. “As it’s demonstrated time and again, if you create dependency on China, it will weaponize it for political purposes and to silence Canada and constrain our foreign policy.”

Kovrig’s comments come one week after Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. It was the first meeting between the countries’ two top leaders in eight years.

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Allegations of foreign interference against China have also persisted, with the final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference calling China “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions,” earlier this year.

While Carney described his meeting with Xi as a “turning point” in the relationship, he also acknowledged differences between the two countries when speaking to reporters afterwards.

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Kovrig has previously said dropping tariffs on Chinese EVs would be a mistake and would give China too much leverage in future negotiations.

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