Longtime Liberal MP Judy Sgro, chair of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group, plans to travel to Taiwan in October with a group of Liberal and Conservative MPs, in defiance of Beijing’s orders to stay away from the island.
Sgro faces an ominous precedent. Two weeks ago, Beijing banned four New Zealand MPs from entering China for one year, following a similar bipartisan trip to Taiwan. Conservative MP Michael Chong — sanctioned by China in 2021 — also travelled to Taiwan last month, following warnings from China’s ambassador to Canada that travelling to the island would be “hurtful” to Canada–China relations.
In January, two Liberal MPs left early from a trip to Taiwan to avoid overlapping with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to China. Conservatives accused Ottawa of “kowtowing” to Beijing.
Timing will be less of a problem for Sgro’s October trip. Carney is set to travel to Shenzhen, China, for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Summit in mid-November, giving a month for the dust to settle on Sgro’s trip.
Trips and trade?
Taipei is waiting patiently for Ottawa to sign a Canada–Taiwan trade co-operation framework, which was finalized in March 2025. Harry Tseng, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, said last month that “the ball is in your court.”
The deal could be signed any day and would represent a significant win for Canada’s trade diversification ambitions — and a further boon for Canada–Taiwan relations in the face of threats from Beijing. Taiwan is Canada’s 15th-largest trading partner; in 2024, Taiwanese direct investment in Canada stood at C$7.3 billion.
Carney, meanwhile, is blazing ahead with other Asian trade deals. He spoke to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto over the weekend; both agreed to “accelerate negotiations” on a Canada–ASEAN free trade agreement, which would build on a Canada–Indonesia trade pact signed in 2025.
