Guardrails Are Not a China Strategy

To imagine that Canada can draw neat boundaries around engagement is to misunderstand the nature of the regime we are dealing with.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers assemble during military training at the Pamir Mountains in Kashgar in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region, in a photo taken on Jan. 4, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to outline what he calls “guardrails” for Canada’s renewed engagement with China. Artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and defence, he says, will remain off limits for deep cooperation. Trade diversification, meanwhile, is presented as a prudent hedge against overreliance on the United States.