TORONTO, (Reuters) – The West should unite against China in order to stop the Asian state using its commercial interests against them to their advantage, Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, stated in an interview aired Saturday.

Trudeau stated that China is “playing” Western nations against each other as they vie for economic access in China.

In an interview for Global TV, he stated that “we’ve been competing” and that China had been cleverly trying to play us off in an open-market, competitive manner.

“China can’t use the angles to divide us, we need to be better at working together.”

The 2018 arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Office Meng Wanzhou under a U.S. Extradition Warrant has cooled relations between Canada-China. China held two Canadians within a matter of hours, defying Ottawa’s allegations of hostage diplomacy.

Meng made a deal in September with U.S. authorities, ending the extradition struggle. The agreement was signed within hours and two Canadians were released.

Canada had been repeatedly questioning China about its human rights position long before Meng was arrested. The two countries are still far apart.

Canada announced earlier this month that it would join its allies in boycotting the 2022 Winter Olympics at Beijing in February. This was to show China that Canada is concerned about China’s human rights records.