The dispute between the two governments escalated when He Yafei, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs for North America, told "The Globe and Mail" in an interview that the "economic relationship goes hand in hand with the political relationship. We need to have a sound political basis of mutual trust for the economic relationship to flourish. That's why we need to work harder to improve mutual trust." Harper responded by telling reporters in Halifax he would "point out to any Chinese official that just as a matter of fact, China had a huge trade surplus with this country, so it would be in the interest of the Chinese government to make sure any dealings on trade are fair and above board."