The current China-Canada relations are "at a freezing point" and face huge difficulties, the Chinese ambassador to Canada said here Thursday, calling on Canada to respect China's major concerns and stop moves that undermine China's interests.
The knots shall be untied by those who got them tied, Lu Shaye said in a speech at the Seminar on China-Canada Relations in Toronto sponsored by the BMO Financial Group and The Globe and Mail.
"We strongly call upon the Canadian side to view China's development in a fair and objective manner, respect China's major concerns and stop the moves that undermine the interests of China," he said.
He stressed that the Canadian side should particularly view the bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective rather than treating bilateral relations as an expedient solution to its current difficulties.
"Only in this way can the bilateral relations steer clear of disturbance and bumpiness and enjoy stable and long-term development," Lu said at the seminar, whose audience included former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
He said Western allegations against China's development including "China economic threat theory" and "China technology theft theory" are groundless.
"Western countries' psychological imbalance towards China's economic and technological development comes down to the West-egotism. They always believe they are superior to any other nation," he said.
China's development is not a threat at all, but a great contribution to the world, the ambassador said.
"The West cannot narrowly believe that they will take the lead forever while ignoring other nations' rights to subsistence and development and even depriving them of ... (these rights) through improper means," he said.
The Chinese people are in the best position to judge China's development and "we are confident about our own path, theory, system and culture," he said.
"We will never change our own development path because of the different viewpoints of Western countries and several discredited articles in the West. We will stick to the path that we choose," he noted.
