OTTAWA — Brian Mulroney says the government should enlist a former prime minister to lead a high-powered delegation to China to win the release of two imprisoned Canadians — but not him. “What they might want to do is take a look at sending over someone like Jean Chretien, who has a lot of respect of the Chinese,” Mulroney told The Canadian Press. Mulroney said the former Liberal prime minister should be accompanied by another well-placed Canadian: Chretien’s son-in-law Andre Desmarais, the deputy chairman and co-CEO of Montreal’s Power Corporation. But in terms of who has the ear of China, Mulroney deferred to his one-time political opponent who, clashed with him as the leader of the official Opposition in the early 1990s. During his 10 years as prime minister, Chretien made half a dozen trips to China.

Source: National Post June 07, 2019 04:17 UTC