China’s foreign minister has long history with EVs, energy and opera: diplomat

China's foreign minister is in Ottawa for talks with PM Mark Carney and Minister Anand, marking the first visit of its kind in a decade. Abigail Bimman has more

China’s foreign minister has long history with EVs, energy and opera: diplomat. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is described as a “very senior trusted hand” who is also “very interesting,” according to a former Canadian diplomat who has met him on more than one occasion. Gordon Houlden was posted to Beijing twice during a diplomatic career that included 22 years working on Chinese affairs for the Government of Canada. He says Wang is “all business and a reliable transmitter” of Canada’s views to Chinese leadership, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wang is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, known as the Politburo, the top leadership group of the ruling Communist Party. Houlden says Wang is equipped to deal with trade issues of all kinds when working on the Canada file, suc...