China’s ambassador to Canada said Beijing would be willing to negotiate a free-trade agreement—so long as Ottawa stops hampering Chinese investments within its borders. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: Ordering Chinese state-owned enterprises to divest from three Canadian critical mineral companies, shutting down TikTok’s Canadian operations and restricting the use of DeepSeek’s AI chatbot on some federal government devices: all were examples Wang Di named as getting in the way of that chance. Canada had cited national security concerns as the reason for its actions. Wang spoke to The Globe and Mail through an interpreter Wednesday, the day before China’s steep tariffs on some farm and food products took effect. Beijing linked that move to Canada following the United States in slapping heavy duties on Chinese EVs, steel and aluminium last year. Wang also said Chinese EV giant BYD had considered investing in Canada but faced “difficulties, restrictions and obstruction and they had to give up the idea.”