Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said China represents one of the biggest foreign interference threats to his country and is becoming an increasing concern in the Arctic.
In a debate Thursday night ahead of the April 28 election, Carney replied "China," when asked to name Canada's biggest security threat.
Asked to elaborate at a news conference in Niagara Falls on Friday, Carney said Canada has to counter Chinese foreign interference threats. He also criticized China for being a partner with Russia in the war with Ukraine and said it is a threat to broader Asia and Taiwan in particular.
Carney said China is the biggest threat "from a geopolitical sense."
"We're taking action to address," he added.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Carney's Liberal Party is leading polls as the campaign enters its final stretch.
Canada is also locked in a trade war with its long-term ally, the United States. Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian autos, steel and aluminum, and goods that do not comply with a North American Free Trade deal.
Carney said Canada would not try to match the U.S. dollar for dollar in retaliation, but said the entire global trading system is being reordered.
"That level of shared values with the U.S. is shifting, so our level of engagement will shift," he said.
There were opportunities for Canada to engage beyond the United States and China, the world's two largest economies, he said.
"There are huge opportunities in Europe, in ASEAN, Mercosur, other parts of the world where we can further deepen, and we should, and I think we will," Carney said.
