China Watchers, Diaspora Urge Foreign Minister Joly to Address Interference, Rights Issues in Beijing Visit

With Beijing’s foreign interference in Canada under intense scrutiny, China watchers are urging the Foreign Affairs Minister to address the issue, along with human rights concerns, during her surprise visit to China. Mélanie Joly’s visit to China on July 18—at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi—is the first by a Canadian foreign minister in seven years. It comes as the RCMP ramps up investigations into Beijing’s foreign interference, while a public inquiry and parliamentary committees examine the regime’s meddling in Canadian federal elections and targeting of Canadian citizens and public servants. “The visit also comes at a time when it has become clear to Canadians that China is not our friend or ally—that there needs to be a real reconsideration of our relationship with the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” Katherine Leung, policy advisor for Hong Kong Watch in Canada, told The Epoch Times’ sister media NTD Television....