Beijing is pushing Ottawa to back its bid to join a major free trade agreement between Indo-Pacific nations, including Canada, Japan and Australia, according to a Canadian senator who just returned from a diplomatic mission to China.

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Senator Clement Gignac, who co-chairs the Canada-China Legislative Association, said he in turn urged his Chinese counterparts to lift travel sanctions on Canadian MPs who have been critical of Beijing’s human rights record.

Mr. Gignac, and fellow co-chair Liberal MP Zoe Royer, spent March 14 to 21 in China, visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to promote closer bilateral ties. They met senior members of the National People’s Congress.

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Mr. Gignac said China is keen for Canadian support to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, a multilateral free trade agreement.

CPTPP replaces the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a proposed agreement that included the United States until President Donald Trump withdrew from the trade pact in 2017.

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China first applied for membership in 2021 but has been blocked several times.

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China imposed sanctions on the entire Canadian House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights in 2021 after it accused China of committing “genocide” against Muslim groups in its Xinjiang region.

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The sanctions were applied after Canada joined with the U.S., Britain and the EU in imposing human-rights-related sanctions against senior officials in Xinjiang.

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Last week, federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne travelled to China and the two countries signed a joint statement to deepen financial-sector ties.

When asked, Mr. Champagne did not give a straight answer on Chinese forced labour [video, 2 min, alternative Invidious link].

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