Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank the witnesses for their very thorough presentation.
The relationship with China is I think a fairly long-lasting one, of course, to the extent that Canada was among the first to help with the recognition of China and to bring it into international relations in a different way. One would assume that we have built a very strong relationship over the many years, with 50 years coming up.
In that context, I'm a little concerned that China's ambassador to Canada back in May spoke of the relationship as being at a “freezing point” and was concerned that Canada ought to respect China's major concerns and “stop the moves that undermine the interests of China”. It seems to me to be a rather aggressive statement, given the context of the relations with Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and the other issues, such as the tariff put on Canadian goods and the stopping of canola and other goods.
How do you see that kind of statement? Do you know what they're saying when they say “stop the moves that undermine the interests of China”? Is it something that concerns you that they would take that view?