Canada's Mark Carney faces delicate balancing act in China visit

7 hours agoNadine Yousif,Senior Canada reporterandLaura Bicker,China correspondent Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney is en route to China for a pivotal visit aimed at resetting ties with Beijing and finding new economic opportunities for his country outside the US.It will not be an easy task, with pressure on Canada to balance its goal of diversifying trade without risking damage to its relationship with Donald Trump or compromising national security and human rights commitments.But with ongoing uncertainty over Canada's trade future with the US – its largest customer – the country now finds itself seeking to repair strained relations to protect its economy.Senior Canadian officials have described the trip, the first to China by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, as "consequential and historic" and part of a "bold" plan to double Canada's non-US exports over the next decade.Trade will be on the agenda, along with agriculture and international security, Carney's office said. Beijing's foreign ministry said the two countries have "shared interests" and should work to "increase people-to-people ties and cultural exchanges".On Thursday, Carney meets the Premier of China, Li Qiang, as well as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Zhao Leji.On Friday, the prime minister is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping one-on-one, after the pair met last year on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.This official visit is a significant step in the rapprochement after Canada-China relations hit a low in 2018, following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a US warrant on fraud charges related to Iran sanctions violations. The detention in Canada of the executive of a Chinese telecom giant angered Beijing, and China subsequently arrested two Canadians on espionage charges. All three were released in 2021 after Meng cut a deal with US prosecutors.More recently, China has been accused of meddling in Canada's politics, though a public inquiry on foreign interference found its impact in recent federal elections to be minimal. China has repeatedly denied allegations of foreign meddling.Canada and China have struggled to forge meaningful ties in the past. Ottawa views China as "an increasingly disruptive global power" that "increasingly disregards" international rules and norms, though it recognises China's size and influence make some cooperation necessary. The Carney government does not see this upcoming visit as a deviation from that view, senior Canadian government officials told reporters this week. But they added that Canada cannot achieve its objective of reducing economic reliance on the US without increasing trade with China.Carney is said to be approaching talks with an eye on increasing collaboration in areas of mutual interest like energy and climate, and putting guardrails on areas where the two countries clash, like defence and critical minerals."I think we are approaching the relationship now with the realism that we haven't seen for decades," Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat, told the BBC. Robertson added that it could result in a "healthier relationship if both sides understand where they're coming from and what the red lines are".It has already proven to be a careful line to walk. Ahead of Carney's visit, two Liberal MPs cut a sponsored trip to Taiwan short, telling the Globe and Mail newspaper that while Canada's position on Taiwan "has not changed", the trip ended early to "avoid confusion with its foreign policy, given the overlap with the Prime Minister's engagement in Beijing".One of Canada's main objectives during this trip is to ease Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola that have hurt farmers in the country's prairie provinces. China last year imposed the agriculture tariffs in a move widely seen as retaliation for Canadian levies on Chinese electric vehicles announced in 2024, mirroring similar levies by the US.In an editorial this week, state-run newspaper Global Times pointed to frustration expressed by Canadian farmers, suggesting "perhaps this was the heavy price (Canada) paid for blindly following the US". China has made it clear it wants the tariffs on EVs lifted.For China, Canada is seen as an important trading partner, with trade between the two countries valued at around $118bn in 2024. But crucially for Beijing, if President Xi manages to make a deal with Carney, it would give China more influence in a country that is on America's doorstep.The Global Times op-ed called on Ottawa to set a foreign policy path separate from that of the US and to exercise "strategic autonomy".One big unknown about this visit is how the US would react to any deals struck between Canada and China. Canada's economy has been hit by US tariffs, especially those on its steel, aluminium and automotive sectors. Talks to ease those levies remain on pause.Canada will soon, however, be engaged in consequential talks on renewing a long-standing North American free trade agreement with the US and Mexico that has shielded it from the bulk of Trump's sweeping tariffs. That review is set to be completed later this year.Robertson, the former diplomat, said it is likely that the Americans are watching the Canada-China relationship "very closely", and that Canada is keeping the US "well informed" of its intentions.But he added: "At the end of the day, there's Canadian interests that we're pursuing."