TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s “eyes are wide open” when it comes to normalizing its relationship with China, Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said on Sunday, after three years of rocky ties with Beijing since the arrest and Friday’s release of a Huawei Technologies executive.

Garneau stated to CBC News that the government now has a four-fold strategy for dealing with China.

Meng Wanzhou is the Huawei CFO, and she was born Ren Zhengfei. She flew to China following an agreement reached with U.S. prosecutors in order to resolve a bank fraud trial against her. This resulted the end of her almost three-year-old extradition case in Canada.

Beijing released Michael Kovrig (the Canadians held by Chinese authorities after Meng fled to China) and Michael Spavor (the two Canadians who were detained in China just days following Meng’s December 2018 arrest).

Garneau stated that there was no way to have a good relationship with China while the Michaels were detained.

Garneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the Canadians to Calgary on Saturday after they had been held in isolation for more than 1,000 days.

Trudeau was elected third-term prime minister after an extremely close election on Sept. 20. He had previously pledged to increase ties with China ever since becoming prime minister in 2015. This is in keeping with his father’s efforts in building diplomatic ties in China.

Canada’s incessant questioning China about human rights has bothered Beijing even before Meng was arrested. The two countries still have not come closer.

China denies any connection between Meng’s extradition and the detention by two Canadians. However, Garneau claimed that “the immediate return” of the Michaels “linked” the case to Meng’s in a very direct way.

Garneau stated that the timing of Meng’s extradition was not related to the federal election’s timing.

“I believe it worked out this way.”