Protests Held During Chinese Foreign Minister’s Visit to Canada Human rights demonstrators outside Canada’s Parliament framed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit as a moral test for Ottawa, even as the federal government treated it as an opportunity to recalibrate relations with Beijing.

Rights advocates and diaspora communities cast the two-day visit as a backdrop to what they describe as “ongoing atrocities in China,” rallying on Parliament Hill to denounce persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and other dissidents, as well as Beijing’s reach into Canada through “transnational repression.” One headline bluntly summarized their stance: “Rights Advocates, Diaspora Protest Chinese Foreign Minister’s Ottawa Visit Amid Ongoing Atrocities in China.”

From this perspective, Ottawa’s hospitality looked like complicity. Rights groups explicitly urged the government to “stand up to Beijing’s transnational repression” rather than deepen economic ties, warning that new business arrangements risk being built “mostly on the backs of the Falun Dafa followers, Uyghur slave labour, [and] Tibetans.”

The government, by contrast, emphasized diplomacy and security language. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand publicly told Wang that both countries must address “critical issues” related to people’s safety, and invoked an “ambitious vision” for a “recalibrated relationship” spanning trade, investment, and public security. Wang’s trip was framed as the first Chinese foreign ministerial visit in a decade and part of a broader push to “deepen ties with Beijing” as Canada seeks to diversify trade.

Yet Prime Minister Mark Carney’s tightly controlled meeting with Wang undercut that public messaging. Media access was sharply limited; the handshake was initially reserved for official photographers, and when journalists were finally let in, they were ejected after less than 30 seconds, with “no comments” from either side and no press conference scheduled.

The contrast is stark: activists demand visible confrontation with Beijing over human rights, while Ottawa pursues quiet engagement—so quiet that it largely unfolded behind closed doors.