The Chinese Foreign Ministry declared on Tuesday a diplomat of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai persona non grata, after the Canadian side expelled a Chinese diplomat.
“On May 9, the Canadian government declared a diplomat of the Consulate-General of China in Toronto persona non grata. China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged serious demarches and strong protest to Canada,” the ministry said in a statement.
“As a reciprocal countermeasure intreaction to Canada’s unscrupulous move, China decides to declare Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai persona non grata, who has been asked to leave China no later than May 13,” it said, adding that China reserves the right to further react.
The move came after Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly wrote in a statement that Canada has declared the Toronto-based Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei as “persona non grata,” according to China’s state-run Global Times.
Source: Kuwait News Agency