China Wants Canada to Get Out From Under America's Wing

As Canadian leader Mark Carney arrives in China on Wednesday, his hosts see an opportunity to peel the longtime US ally away from their rival, at least a bit. China's state media is calling on the Canadian government to set a foreign policy path independent of the United States—what it calls "strategic autonomy," per the AP. Canada has long been one of America's closest allies, geographically and otherwise. But Beijing is hoping that President Trump's economic aggression—and, now, military action—against other countries will erode that longstanding relationship.

Beijing bristled at former President Biden's efforts to strengthen relations with Europe, Australia, India, Canada and others to confront China. Now it sees an opportunity to try to loosen those ties, though it remains cautious about how far that will go. Carney, for his part, has focused on trade, describing the trip to China as part of a move to forge new partnerships around the world to end Canada's economic reliance on the American market. Trump has hit Canada with tariffs on its exports to the US and suggested the vast, resource-rich country could become America's 51st state.

The Canadian prime minister, who took office last year, is seeking to revive a relationship with China that was marked with acrimony under his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. Trudeau's government in 2024 followed Biden's lead in imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles, prompting retaliatory tariffs from China. "If Ottawa still chooses to subject its China policy to the will of Washington again in the future, it will only render its previous efforts to mend ties with Beijing in vain," the state-owned China Daily newspaper wrote in an editorial this week.

Canadian officials have said they expect Carney's trip to produce progress on trade but not a definitive elimination of any tariffs. Meanwhile, experts say China could take advantage of Trump's threats against Greenland and Canada to urge greater separation with the US and a more expansive relationship with Beijing.