Media Commentary on Canada-China Relations, 2026

New piece in The Policy Magazine on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing, January 18, 2026.

“Canada is strategically important to China for another reason. Amid intensifying U.S.-China geopolitical competition and trade tensions, Beijing has a clear interest in maintaining stable relations with Washington’s closest neighbour—once one of America’s strongest allies, and the jurisdiction from which the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was initiated.

While Canada may be economically smaller than China, Ottawa should recognize that Beijing does not hold all the cards. In this evolving geopolitical environment, leverage and dependence run in both directions.

Fundamentally, this trip should be understood as laying the groundwork for sustained engagement with China over the coming decades, rather than as a short-term tactical maneuver to extricate Canada from one of President Trump’s tariff tantrums.”