Canada's foreign affairs minister speaks of 'rules-based international order' amid dispute with China

Canada will continue to work with like-minded nations to calm tensions and assert the “rules-based international order,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has said.

Speaking in Munich, Germany, she said it was also important to “bring together specific coalitions” for the likes of helping opposition groups oppose President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.

But she added that Canada is not — and should not be — leading the fight against Maduro.

“This is a process led by the people of Venezuela,” she said. “They are the ones who need to win this effort. Our job as the international community is to support them, and that is very much what we’re doing.”

We must not be defeated by the challenges we face. Our shared commitment to democratic values and our commitment to shared prosperity is what we need to build on together. @MunSecConf #MSC2019 pic.twitter.com/FimPUHUHYa

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) February 15, 2019

She said Canada will also look to name and shame human rights abuses worldwide, including in Myanmar.

Freeland’s speech comes amid an ongoing dispute between Canada and China, following what she called the “arbitrary” detention of two Canadians in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Numerous countries — including Germany, France, the Netherlands, the U.K., Australia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia — have spoken against the men’s detention. Earlier this week in Munich, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the American response had not been strong enough.

With files from the Canadian Press