The ambassador of Canada to China is the official representative of the Canadian government to the government of China. The official title for the ambassador is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to the People's Republic of China. The current Ambassador of Canada is Jennifer May who was appointed on the advice of Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau on September 22, 2022.[2]
The Embassy of Canada is located at 19 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District, 100600 Beijing 100600, China.[3]
Canada was originally represented in China by the British ambassador, who looked after the interests of the entire British Empire and later the British Commonwealth. Canadian participation in World War II made it desirable to establish separate representation in China. Diplomatic relations between Canada and China were established on November 6, 1941, with the first ambassador, Victor Wentworth Odlum, appointed on the advice of Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King on November 5, 1942.[4]
A Canadian Embassy was opened in the temporary capital of Chongqing.[5] The embassy was then moved to the permanent Nationalist capital of Nanjing in 1946.
The Canadian ambassador remained in Nanjing after Communist troops took the city on April 23, 1949. Canada then maintained diplomatic relations with Communist China at the chargé level from July 1949 to February 1951, when the Korean War made it impossible for diplomatic relations to continue. Canada chose not to post an ambassador to the Nationalist capital of Taipei, maintaining relations through the Nationalist Chinese ambassador in Ottawa.[6]
Canada recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China on October 13, 1970,[4] and a Canadian Embassy was opened in Beijing on June 10, 1971.
Ronning, Collins, Small and Menzies (born in Zhangde, Henan) were Chinese born diplomats who possessed significant Chinese cultural knowledge, and in the case of Ronning, near-native language skills. Paynter, Mulroney and Saint-Jacques had served as diplomats to China prior to being appointed ambassador.
John Lawrence Paynter died in Vancouver 10 months into his posting while still serving as Canada's Ambassador to China.
^Shyu, Larry N. (2008). "Diplomatic relations through wartime alliance: the Republic of China's relations with Canada". Journal of Modern Chinese History. 2 (2): 185. doi:10.1080/17535650802489492. S2CID145486410. However, formal diplomatic relations were not established until 1942, when Canada and the Republic of China (ROC) became wartime allies in their common fight against the Axis powers.
^Hilliker, John; Barry, Donald (1995). Canada's Department of External Affairs. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 56. ISBN9780773507388. The Nationalist Chinese embassy remained in Ottawa, but Canada did not send a representative to the government in Taiwan (Formosa).
^ abHilliker, John; Barry, Donald (1995). Canada's Department of External Affairs. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 55. ISBN9780773507388. Hampered by communications problems, the ambassador, T. C. Davis, had to borrow US dollars from private sources, such as the Shell Petroleum Company, to keep the mission operating under the new regime. He was instructed to return to Ottawa in July 1949, leaving the first secretary, Chester Ronning, to take over as chargé d'affaires.
