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OTTAWA — China’s ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, is leaving his post this month, the National Post has confirmed.

Former Canadian ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques told the Post on Tuesday evening that Lu is being sent to Paris, after serving in his current post since 2017. A source in the diplomatic community, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Lu is leaving Canada later this month.

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“It’s a promotion for him (and he has been posted there before). I assume they will want to replace him by another hard-nosed person,” Saint-Jacques said.

The reassignment will leave each country without an ambassador to the other, as former Canadian ambassador to China John McCallum resigned in January and has yet to be replaced. It also comes at a time of heightened tension between Beijing and Ottawa.

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office would not comment and referred the Post’s inquiries to the Chinese embassy. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, told the Post that Ottawa did not petition for Lu to be reassigned. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.