25 January 2026

Canada's Rush to Beijing Is a Strategic Miscalculation

Stephen Nagy

When Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in Beijing last week, he carried with him the hopes of western Canadian farmers crushed under Chinese tariffs — as well as the frustrations of a nation battered by President Trump’s economic nationalism. The visit, hailed by some as the “Carney Doctrine” and lauded as nuanced diplomacy, offered immediate relief. China signaled flexibility on agricultural restrictions. Trade delegations exchanged pleasantries. For a country bruised by its southern neighbor’s “51st state” rhetoric and Greenland ambitions, the embrace felt validating.

It was also, in the cold calculus of geopolitics, precisely what Beijing wanted — and precisely the wrong move for Ottawa’s long-term interests.

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