Mark Carney heading to Beijing to thaw Canada-China relations

His trip marks the first time a Canadian prime minister will visit China since 2017, when Justin Trudeau visited the country in a bid to clinch a free-trade agreement. Trudeau’s efforts were unsuccessful. Chinese negotiators rebuffed Trudeau’s progressive trade agenda that sought protections for women and the environment. And following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in a Vancouver airport by Canadian authorities executing a U.S. warrant, relations tanked and trade talks dropped. Pursuing stronger trade ties with China carries some risk for Carney’s government. There’s a clause in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that gives parties grounds to terminate…