Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing this week—the first trip by a Canadian prime minister in more than eight years—signals a high-stakes attempt to reset Canada-China relations. This visit comes as pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai’s mitigation hearing reaches an end and as Ottawa looks to expand Canada’s oil exports to China.
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Beijing is seizing upon tensions in the United States–Canada relationship to provide a fig leaf to the Canadian government—and much of the rest of the world—presenting itself as an alternative trusted partner in trade and investment. Carney shouldn’t accept that offer without conditions, including the release of the Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, which he has already said he supports. Lai’s mother was a Canadian citizen, and his sister, nieces and nephews are Canadian citizens and residents of Ontario. Lai’s companies also employ more than 1,500 people in Canada.
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If Canada won’t stand up for a 78-year-old journalist imprisoned for running a newspaper, what red line will Beijing have to cross for Ottawa to act? Lai’s case is also part of Beijing’s broader campaign of transnational repression, with Hong Kong issuing bounties on Canadian citizens and activists worldwide for speaking up in defence of democracy.
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Canada can use tools it has deployed elsewhere. The Canadian Parliament has passed motions on the Uyghur genocide and imposed sanctions on officials in Belarus for human rights abuses and political imprisonment. Hong Kong’s crackdown on democracy deserves a similar response. Canada should coordinate with Britain and the US at the G7 in June to present a unified front and not make any new concessions until Hong Kong political prisoners are released. Britain is already pursuing humanitarian release for Lai, who holds British citizenship.
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This isn’t about severing ties with China; it’s about ensuring those ties don’t come at the cost of Canada’s values. Carney has something Beijing wants: access to Canadian markets, minerals and investment. He should use that leverage.
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