Canada: Canada

The end to a partnership on a coronavirus vaccine between Chinese firm CanSino Biologics and Canada’s National Research Council was not “necessarily” tied to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, Canada’s foreign minister said on Thursday.

Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi for about 90 minutes on Tuesday in Rome, where he urged Beijing to release two Canadian citizens it has detained.

The two ministers also “discussed the importance of global collaboration in the face of COVID-19, including the search for a vaccine,” according to a statement.