Canadian PM Openly Considers China The Largest Threat

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney/PHOTO via Instagram @markjcarney

JAKARTA - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said China is one of the biggest threats related to foreign interference in Canada and is a threat that appears in the Arctic region.

In a debate ahead of the general election on April 28, Carney replied "China," when asked to name the biggest security threat to Canada.

When asked to explain further at a press conference on Friday, April 18, Carney said Canada should fight the threat of foreign interference from China.

He also criticized China for being Russia's partner in the war with Ukraine and said China was a threat to Asia and Taiwan in particular.

Carney said China was the biggest threat "from a geopolitical point of view."

"We are taking action to overcome it," he said.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a response request.

Liberal party Carney leads the poll as the campaign enters its final stages.

Canada is also locked in a trade war with its long-term ally, the United States.

Canada imposed retaliatory rates on US goods in response to US rates on Canadian cars, steel, and aluminum, as well as goods that did not comply with North America's Free Trade deal.

Carney said Canada would not try to match the US dollar to the dollar in retaliation, but said the entire global trading system was being reorganized.

"The level of values with the US is shifting, so our level of engagement will shift," he said.

There is an opportunity for Canada to engage outside the United States and China, the two largest economies in the world.

"There are great opportunities in Europe, in ASEAN, Mercosur, other parts of the world where we can deepen, and we have to do it, and I think we will," Carney said.