US President Donald Trump described as “ very dangerous“ the United Kingdom's desire to get closer to China, world agencies reported.
"“It is very dangerous for them to do this“, said the American president, after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is visiting Beijing yesterday, said that for his country it is “of vital importance“ to improve relations with China.
On this occasion, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Starmer welcomed the improvement in relations between the two countries, which they believe is necessary, although serious disagreements continue to exist between them.
This is the first visit to China by a British prime minister since 2018 and it followed a series of visits by other Western leaders seeking to get closer to Beijing at a time when their traditional American ally is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Among these Western leaders was Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“I think it is even more dangerous for Canada to do business with China“, Donald Trump added. "Canada is not in a good place and you cannot look to China as a solution," he added.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expected the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty after media reports of meetings between US State Department officials and activists from the province of Alberta appeared, Agence France-Presse reported.
According to the "Financial Times", three secret meetings were organized in Washington with the group "Alberta Prosperity Project", which has launched a petition to hold a referendum on the independence of this Canadian oil province, located in the western part of the country.
When asked by Agence France-Presse, a senior State Department official explained that his department regularly meets with representatives of civil society. "As is typical of such routine meetings, no commitments were made," he added.
The revelations come amid heightened tensions between the two North American neighbors. Since returning to power, US President Donald Trump has launched a trade war against his Canadian ally and regularly threatens to annex it.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant recently appeared to support the idea of an independent Alberta, calling it a "natural partner for the US" at the World Economic Forum in Davos. as if it were a separate country.
The premier of British Columbia, a Canadian province on the west coast and neighbor to Alberta, has expressed his outrage at the meetings of supporters of Alberta independence, calling them “treason“.
“It is completely unacceptable to ask a foreign power to help break up this country and, by the way, from a president who has shown little respect for Canadian sovereignty,“ he said.
Unlike the Quebec independence movement, which has existed for decades and is well organized, the separatist movement in Alberta is relatively new and diverse and has never been considered a serious threat to the unity of Canada. According to several recent polls, only about a third of Albertans would vote for independence for the province in the event of a referendum.