Beijing’s ambassador to Canada has been away from his Ottawa post since the end of January – attending to what the Chinese embassy described as official business in China.
However, travel in and out of China is difficult because of COVID-19-related lockdowns and lengthy quarantines. China is still pursuing a zero-COVID policy. Last week, Canada banned equipment made by Huawei and ZTE – another Chinese telecom equipment maker – from Canada’s wireless networks, saying a review determined they posed security risks. In response, the Chinese government accused Ottawa of “political manipulation” and warned that Beijing would “take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”Guy Saint-Jacques, who served as Canada’s ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016, said Mr.
“In the case of Cong Peiwu they probably came to the conclusion that there is not much going on in the Canadian relationship and therefore we might as well use the time for him to get further training,” Mr. Saint-Jacques said. He said the next step for Mr. Cong would either be ambassador to a larger country than Canada or a vice-minister position in Beijing – the latter job likely requiring him to accumulate managerial experience in a large Chinese city.
He said Canada-China relations remain in “a deep freeze,” and “it speaks to the state of the relationship that nobody has really noticed” Mr. Cong was away.
And stay out.