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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will not pay for nearly eight million substandard medical grade masks that come from China.
These N95 masks were part of a shipment of 11 million, of which only one million met Canadian standards, while another 1.6 million are still undergoing testing.
During a media briefing, Trudeau was adamant that the federal government refused to pay for inferior personal protective equipment, saying that the country “will not pay for masks that do not match the standards and quality that we want. for our front-line workers. ” “
This matter has further hampered relations between Canada and China, which also suffered after a senior executive at Chinese company Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was detained by authorities in Vancouver in late 2018, and China retaliated by arresting two Canadians, including a diplomat.
Trudeau could have further irritated China by openly thanking Taiwan for its “generous donation” of 500,000 masks to Canada. Canada is also part of a group of nations, led by the United States and Japan, seeking observer status for Taiwan at the World Health Organization, a move strongly opposed by China, which does not recognize Taiwan’s existence as a nation. separated.
Trudeau also said that talks regarding the defective masks were ongoing with the Montreal-based supplier, which has not been identified. “We will not be loaded with masks that do not meet our strict requirements,” he said.
This is not the first time that Canada has faced problems with such Chinese masks. Last month, a million masks imported from China were found to be defective.
Earlier last month, the country’s largest city, Toronto, returned nearly 62,000 masks to a Chinese vendor. At the time, the mayor’s office noted in a statement: “After reports of rips and tears, a deeper inspection of the masks determined that the ordered masks were not meeting the city’s standard and specifications. The masks are being returned and the seller has promised a full refund. “
Canadian officials have privately told media outlets in the country that Chinese vendors, backed by Beijing, have been involved in raising prices in a “competitive market” for such protective equipment, inflating prices fivefold. the pre-pandemic rate.
