Carney building a castle in the air

After Mark Carney's victory in the leadership race for Canada's ruling Liberal Party in March, Beijing has clearly expressed its hope that the incoming government in Canada will adopt a positive and pragmatic approach toward China.

"We hope that the Canadian side will form an objective and rational perception of China... and work with China in the same direction for the improvement and growth of bilateral relations," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, noting that China always believes that the two sides need to grow bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

In his meeting with his Canadian counterpart Melanie Joly in Lima, Peru's capital, in November, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi conveyed Beijing's openness to work with Ottawa to properly handle differences and keep bilateral ties developing on the right track, which, as the two sides agreed, serves the common interests of the two countries.

It is apparent that China's stance on its relations with Canada is consistent. It firmly believes that although China and Canada have different political systems, which is a choice made by their respective people and rooted in each other's history and culture, China's fast development along its own path should not be a reason for Canada to deem China as a "threat". Something, however, the Carney government seems intent on doing.

The Canadian prime minister alleged that China is one of the largest "threats" with respect to foreign interference in Canada and is an emerging "threat" in the Arctic in a debate on Thursday night ahead of the April 28 election, which is to elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament, a competition between the Liberal Party and Conservative Party of Canada led by Pierre Poilievre.

When asked to elaborate at a news conference in Niagara Falls on Friday, Carney went further in saying that Canada has to counter Chinese "foreign interference threats", criticizing China "for being a partner with Russia in the war with Ukraine" and said it is a "threat" to broader Asia and "Taiwan in particular".

Although playing the "China card" is a routine for some Canadian politicians in elections, Carney has gone too far this time in crossing Beijing's red line on the Taiwan question, which is China's internal affair that brooks no external interference, particularly when Canada needs China as a key trading partner to counterbalance the negative impacts of the United States' tariff war that Carney vowed to fight back against.

His remarks also contradict with those of the top diplomat of his government, Joly, who told Wang in Lima that Canada adheres to the one-China policy and is committed to promoting the development of Canada-China relations.

The previous Justin Trudeau government actually started mending its ties with China even before the Democrats lost the 2024 US presidential election, as it was well aware if the Republicans won the election, Canada would have to change its China policy as the following US administration would not feel grateful for Ottawa continuing to play the role assigned by the Joe Biden administration.

While most US allies and partners, including the European Union, Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea, have started mending economic and trade ties with China, the Carney government will put itself in a very difficult position between China and the US if it acts on Carney's provocative remarks related to China.

Acknowledging there are opportunities for Canada to engage beyond the US and China, the world's two largest economies, he said. "There are huge opportunities in Europe, in ASEAN, Mercosur, other parts of the world where we can further deepen, and we should, and I think we will."

But if Carney thinks his government can lead Canada to rebuild its international industry and supply chains excluding China, he is deluding himself. Although he needs to appear tough as a leader given Trudeau's image of weakness, to turn a partner into an enemy is not being tough, it's being shortsighted.