BEIJING -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night, beginning a four-day visit designed to repair foundering relations between the two nations as Canada looks to develop relations with countries other than the United States.It’s the first visit of a Canadian leader to China in nearly a decade.
Carney will meet with Premier Li Qiang, his counterpart as head of government, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.China’s state media has been calling on the Canadian government to set a foreign policy path independent of the United States — what it calls “strategic autonomy.”Canada has long been one of America’s closest allies, geographically and otherwise.
But Beijing is hoping that President Donald Trump’s economic aggression — and, now, military action — against other countries will erode that longstanding relationship.Trump has said, among other things, that Canada could become the 51st U.S.
state.Carney 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 United States and suggested the vast, resource-rich country could become America’s 51st state.Popular ReadsState Department warns US citizens to leave VenezuelaJan 11, 10:28 PMMinneapolis ICE shooting updates: Protests remain peaceful despite arrestsJan 10, 11:20 PMFBI releases images of seized motorcycles as search for Ryan Wedding continuesDec 30, 4:51 PMThe Chinese government bristled at former U.S.
President Joe 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.The downturn in relations started with the arrest of a Chinese tech executive in late 2018 at American request and was fueled more recently by the government of fo...