Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday that Ottawa has not been clear with the Canadian business community about the risks they face operating in China.
In a discussion with the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Joly said it’s still up to industry to choose how much they invest in China, but she argued the federal government has a duty to help them navigate the risks.
“Governments, for a long time, did not necessarily inform the public and the business community concretely about the geopolitical risks associated with doing business in China,” she said in French.
Last month, the government unveiled its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy, which seeks closer economic, military and diplomatic ties in the region to counterbalance China’s growing sway….