Vancouver city hall retracts claim Ottawa approved meeting with Chinese consulate

Vancouver city hall now says Global Affairs Canada did not approve a meeting held last month between one of its employees and Chinese officials regarding an event by performers critical of Beijing. In an unsolicited email to Global News, the city admitted it had falsely claimed the federal government had deemed the meeting with China’s consulate in Vancouver a normal diplomatic interaction. “Global Affairs Canada did not take an official position about the meeting,” city spokesperson Cecilia Ho said in the email sent Tuesday correcting its previous statement about the matter. The spokesperson …