China’s defence minister meets with Tory ministers amid undisclosed stop

OTTAWA – China’s defence minister made an unheralded stop in Canada last week, meeting with two Harper government ministers amid rising tensions over the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Gen. Chang Wanquan had face-to-face discussions with Defence Minister Rob Nicholson and Foreign Affairs John Baird last Thursday, say Western defence sources and Chinese media reports.

There was even a side trip to Kingston, Ont., where Chang visited the Royal Military College and the Canadian Army staff college before returning to Beijing.

Chang’s visit, unlike those of ministers of other high-profile nations, was kept off-the-radar by the Harper government, which neither issued a statement nor revealed that the two nations have apparently agreed to enhance military ties.

Publications in China say a deal was signed to promote high-level military exchanges and to establish a mechanism whereby the two countries can talk defence matters directly with one another.

National Defence did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the agreement or about whether China’s support for Syria came up in any of the discussions.