Canada on Wednesday announced the appointment of a new ambassador to China amid damaged relations following the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Dominic Barton, the former global managing director of consulting firm McKinsey & Co, is the new envoy.

Trudeau fired the previous ambassador after he said it would be “great” if the US dropped its extradition request for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou
.

The arrest of the daughter of the founder of Huawei at Vancouver’s airport December 1 severely damaged relations between China and Canada.

The US wants her extradited to face charges that she committed fraud by misleading banks about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran.

China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on December 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng. China has stopped importing certain Canadian products like canola and meat, and it also resentenced a convicted Canadian drug smuggler to death after the Meng arrest as part of an apparent campaign of intimidation and retribution against Canada.

Barton worked in Asia for 12 years as well as serving on the board of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and being listed as an adjunct professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, according to online biographies.