The ambassador from China to Canada resigned after almost five years in office when relations between the two nations were at an all-time high.
The news broke during a top Canadian diplomat’s visit to the Asian country on Sunday. According to a person acquainted with the case, Peiwu, who has been in his position since 2019, has resigned and gone back to China.
A spokesman from Global Affairs Canada, who was not permitted to address the case publicly, confirmed that Cong Peiwu had returned to China.
Since Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese telecommunications equipment behemoth Huawei Technologies, on a warrant from the United States, tensions have been building between Ottawa and Beijing. China subsequently detained Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, both of Canadian descent.
At the heart of the issue between Beijing, Ottawa, and Washington was China’s detention of the two Canadian citizens for over a thousand days. The guys were freed in 2021, the same year that Meng returned to China after the U.S. Justice Department abandoned its extradition request.
No other information on his resignation was immediately available, and attempts to get feedback from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa were delayed.
Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry said that VP Ma Zhaoxu met with his Canadian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister David Morrison, during their meeting. The delegates deliberated China-Canada relations and other issues of mutual interest and concern.
The Globe and Mail was the first to report on the Chinese envoy’s departure. The publication cited sources saying that members of the diplomatic corps were surprised by the abruptness of Cong’s appointment, which ended on April 9.
Further points of contention between Beijing and Ottawa include Canada’s denunciation of China’s national security legislation in Hong Kong and Canadian government agencies’ investigations into allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections, both of which Beijing denies.
