An intriguing impact Donald Trump’s trade war is having on Canada is how the premiers of British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan have become uncharacteristically supportive of Ottawa, or at least its efforts to improve ties with China to offset withering relations in Washington.

“I’ll give credit to Prime Minister (Mark) Carney for the engagement that he has undertaken” with Beijing, said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, adding wryly, “far be it for me to say a number of nice things about a Liberal prime minister over the course of the last decade.”

Moe wants Canadian officials to continue making trips to China to demonstrate Ottawa’s willingness to engage and hopes to see a meeting between Carney and Chinese president Xi Jinping.

But while Canada urgently needs new export markets, can we ignore the non-trade implications of rapprochement with this Chinese leader?

Xi Jinping’s emergence in 2013 as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party was a signal moment in redefining his régime’s place within its own narrative of Chinese history, envisioning an ancient........

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