Since then, Beijing’s crackdown on its Uygur population and its erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy have upset many liberal democracies, including Canada, which cancelled its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.

Added to this, according to Champagne, is Beijing’s “arbitrary detention” of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on suspicions of espionage, in response to the December 2018 arrest of telecoms giant Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant during a stopover in Vancouver.

Meng is wanted for alleged bank fraud and violations of US sanctions against Iran, and has been fighting extradition ever since.

“Our first priority is to get the Michaels back home,” Champagne said.

“All of the initiatives and policies that had been put in place at the time [in 2016 with China] – all that needs to be reviewed,” he said, adding that Ottawa is “looking at all of them with the lens of China of 2020”.

Despite the tensions, China remains Canada’s second largest trading partner after the United States. In the year to July 2020, Canadian exports to China increased 23.6 per cent while imports rose 13.9 per cent.