OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney did not “proactively” raise human rights or foreign interference with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Beijing visit in January, the government says.

The Privy Council Office, which serves the prime minister, says in a parliamentary tabling that “human rights and foreign interference were not brought up proactively” by Carney when he met with Xi.

The document was tabled today in response to questions from Conservative MP Ned Kuruc and notes that Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand discussed “sensitive issues such as human rights and foreign interference” with her Chinese counterpart.

Carney said at the end of his visit to Beijing that he had spoken with Xi about human rights, and his office tells The Canadian Press it will respond to a request for clarity.

In January, Carney said Canada raises human rights through direct conversations, instead of what he described as speaking through a megaphone.

Carney also met with Xi last November in South Korea and said afterwards that Beijing did not seem to understand how seriously Canada takes the matter of foreign interference.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press