Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's remarks in Beijing are sure to anger the White House, but Trudeau has already taken a stance to distance himself from the United States.

Trudeau's visit to China is the first time in 8 years that a Canadian prime minister has visited China. Moreover, he faces considerable domestic and international pressure. Domestic pressure comes from Canada's economically strong provinces, which have taken an uncompromising stance toward China, openly urging Trudeau not to "compromise" with China. International pressure, of course, comes from Canada's neighboring country, the United States.

(Trudeau arrives in Beijing, starting the first visit by a Canadian prime minister in 8 years)

But all these were ignored by Trudeau. For the future, Trudeau seems to have a clear and undisturbed judgment, and China is the partner that deserves deeper engagement.

Therefore, Trudeau not only used this visit to show that Canada has changed its strategy, but also took several practical actions to draw a line with all those who take an adversarial stance toward China.

Firstly, on ideology and position. On January 16th morning, during a meeting with our leader in Beijing, Trudeau reiterated Canada's adherence to the one-China policy. He also said: "Multilateralism is the cornerstone of world security and stability. In the face of a world full of change and chaos, Canada is willing to closely coordinate with China on multilateral issues, safeguard multilateralism and the authority of the United Nations, and jointly maintain world peace and stability."

Opposed to multilateralism is the current unilateral hegemonism being pursued by the United States. As a "good friend" and neighbor of the United States, Canada has actually also been a victim of this unilateralism.

Previously, Canada long followed the United States in strategy and foreign relations, almost losing its diplomatic autonomy. With the U.S.'s increasingly unfriendly policies toward China, Canada often played the role of "cheering" for the U.S. However, it was unexpected that Canada, wanting to be a good follower, did not receive any benefits from the U.S., but instead became a "piece of meat" on the U.S. table, subject to various unreasonable demands from the U.S. without any way to resist.

For example, the U.S. tariff stick not only targets opponents but also friends. Canada is one of the "friends" being hit by the U.S. tariffs. When Trump was re-elected for the second time, he threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canada. The Canadian delegation bowed and scraped to please the U.S., even using China as a scapegoat, saying, "This is our common enemy."

However, Trump said I don't care about your reasons. There is no concept of friendship in unilateralism. Tariffs were imposed as usual, later increased to 35%, and repeatedly used this reason to threaten Canada.

The most unbearable thing for Canada was when Trump frequently mentioned turning Canada into the "51st state" of the U.S. This kind of statement was once considered a diplomatic provocation, making Canada very uncomfortable. But with the U.S. actions against Venezuela and its recent statements on the Greenland issue, all of Trump's provocations turned into real threats. Canada had to take Trump's every word seriously, even if some of them seemed "unrealistic". And it had to make strategic adjustments.

Therefore, Trudeau's expression of shifting positions is not surprising.

(Trudeau and Trump)

In addition to directly expressing his ideological position, Trudeau also put this shift in position into practice.

A very notable point of Trudeau's visit to China is the 100% tariff on Canadian exports of electric vehicles to China. This issue was one of the main causes of the deterioration of Sino-Canadian relations.

This tariff was imposed for multiple reasons, including the previous Canadian government's blind following of the U.S.'s unfriendly policies toward China, and also Canadian domestic car trade protectionism.

Before the visit, the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, strongly urged Trudeau to maintain the current status on the tariff issue and not to make any changes toward China. Ontario is Canada's strongest economic province and also a major center for car production. Ford's statement was to protect his own interests, but due to the status of the strongest economic province, it could greatly influence the stance of the eastern industrial regions of Canada toward China.

However, as a national leader, Trudeau must consider more and longer-term factors, rather than being limited by short-term profits. On January 16th, while visiting Beijing, Trudeau announced decisively to cancel the policy of imposing a 100% tariff on electric vehicles imported from China, and plans to apply the most-favored-nation tax model to the import of 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada.

This move naturally angered the U.S. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg could only sarcastically say: "I think Canada will regret allowing Chinese cars into their market when they reassess this decision in the future."

Evidently, Trudeau proved his choice with practical actions, even though it would certainly anger the White House and face pressure from the U.S. Trudeau knows that Canada must make changes.

(U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is very unhappy about Canada's decision to cancel the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles)

Not only that, Trudeau also stated that Canada should expand relations with China in areas such as trade, energy, agriculture, finance, education, and climate change. This marks that Canada's diplomatic strategy toward China is a comprehensive and deep partnership, not just a simple "ice-breaking" effort.

Among these, the energy and agriculture sectors have drawn particular attention. The two sides decided to launch a ministerial-level dialogue on energy with China, engaging in in-depth cooperation in both new and traditional energy fields, especially the plan for nuclear energy cooperation involving natural uranium, which will significantly enhance the new energy trade market between the two countries.

At the same time, the ministers of agriculture of China and Canada also held meetings. The western region of Canada, whose economy relies heavily on agriculture, had previously depended on the Chinese market for up to 90% of its oilseed exports. Due to the electric vehicle tariff policy, the western agriculture sector suffered retaliatory measures.

With Canada's cancellation of the tariff, the overall trade between the two countries will usher in a new chapter, promoting the development of Sino-Canadian relations in a better direction. Canada will thus enhance its resilience and international voice, reducing the U.S.'s ability to coerce Canada.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/7596201102274511395/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.