OTTAWA- Facing uncertainties in relations with the US, Canada is entering into a strategic partnership with China right in President Donald Trump’s front yard.
Announcing the partnership in Beijing on January 16, Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Xi Jinping said they were “renewing the relationship between Canada and China in the face of a changing global economy and international security challenges”.
The partnership, they said in a joint statement, would include “public safety and security”, an area where they have had major issues.
“I believe the progress that we have made and the partnership sets us up well for the new world order”, Carney said.
Without naming Trump, Xi made an implied reference to his policies, saying the Canada-China partnership will “help improve the multilateral system, a system that in recent years has come under great strain”.
Carney’s office said, “This visit marked a turning point in the Canada-China relationship and builds on productive engagements undertaken this past year to advance cooperation and revitalize the trade partnership”.
The partnership also encompasses energy, economic and trade cooperation, multilateralism, and culture and people-to-people ties, with Chinese investments in Canada.
As Carney looks for greater trade diversifications, a visit to India is on the cards.
India’s High Commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik told the Canada Broadcasting Corporation this week that the visit will happen after India’s budget is unveiled next month.
Carney’s China visit that began on January 14 was the first by a Canadian prime minister in eight years, thawing the relations that turned frosty after the 2018 arrests of each other’s high-profile citizens.
That was compounded by the Canadian Intelligence agency warning that Beijing was interfering in the nation’s internal affairs, including in elections, and was a security threat.
While campaigning in last year’s election, Carney said China posed the biggest threat in “a geopolitical sense”.
But after being buffeted by Trump’s threats of tariffs, trade restrictions, and even annexation, Carney warmed to China seeking alternatives. (IANS)
with IW
