We are still trying to learn from each other how the Chinese perceive the evolving crisis in Ukraine and what implications, post-Ukraine, it will have on Russia and its relations with China, and also what role China will play now, because every one of us knows that the Chinese are now translating what is going on in Chinese social media, and Chinese social media is very controlled by the state.
From what the state allows the people to speak about and what they're not allowed to speak about, it's very clear that the Chinese government supports Russia. I have a feeling that they have an understanding between themselves. There's a lot of talk about the Chinese not being very happy with Russia invading Ukraine even before the Olympics were over. It seems they had an agreement, but the Chinese are also very afraid of secondary sanctions from the west. We have to understand that we are not the butter all the time. We have a Tibetan saying, referring to the butter and the stone. You throw the stone at the butter, the butter melts. You throw the butter at the stone, the butter also loses.
With international trade in Canada, you export 25 billion dollars' worth of goods, but China imports more than 77 billion dollars' worth of goods. The trade imbalance is very stark. If there is a trade war, China will lose. It's not just one side. It is actually both ways.