For decades, Canada’s approach to China worked well enough. We maintained diplomatic ties, expanded trade and navigated disagreements without major crisis. China was a rising power, but the rules-based international order was generally stable, and our alliance with the United States gave us a natural anchor point for our own strategy. That era is long over. Today, China is the world’s second-largest economy and a technological superpower increasingly willing to use economic leverage as a geopolitical tool. At the same time, American leadership has become unpredictable, with Washington abandoning trade agreements and challenging international institutions. Canada now faces a world where neither superpower can be counted on to uphold the rules-based order we depend on as a middle power.

Canada’s China policy has become a case study in reactive diplomacy. We impose tariffs when Washington does. We condemn human rights abuses in press releases. We worry about technology risks without building the capacity to manage them. We lack a coherent strategy that serves Canadian interests in a world that has fundamentally changed.

The economic stakes make our reactive approach even more troubling. Canada’s stance toward China overlooks a critical reality: disentanglement is neither feasible nor cost-free. Chinese trade supports over 365,000 Canadian jobs and accounts for $120 billion in annual bilateral exchange. As Canada seeks to expand its presence in Asia through its Indo-Pacific Strategy, we must contend with the fact that 40 to 50 per cent of those markets remain China-centric. Abrupt disengagement with China would devastate canola exports, disrupt supply chains and heighten our dependence on the United States, which already absorbs 75 per cent of Canadian exports. Rather than posturing for political optics, Canada must pursue pragmatic engagement with China, anchored in diversification and reinforced by clear guardrails.

Our current approach often uncritically mirrors Washington’s moves, and this is no longer viable. Consider the 2024 EV tariffs imposed shortly after the U.S. enacted similar measures. The government........

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