As one of the United States’ closest allies in the West, Canada’s foreign policy tends to generally align with that of the U.S. With anti-China tensions building in both countries, Canada’s latest moves could end up hurting its relationship with China without a more nuanced approach.

China and Canada share a complex and strained relationship that have only worsened i n recent years. Despite increasing scrutiny of China, Canada’s government seeks to maintain economic ties in a manner consistent with Canadian values and interests.

China’s relationship with Canada has been suffering for the last few years under the weight of tit-for-tat sanctions and expulsions of officials. Whether or not the two countries will continue this descent will depend on China’s plans to influence policy abroad, and Canada’s appetite for confrontation with the world’s largest exporting economy.

Canada’s newest Indo-Pacific Strategy addresses important realities of China’s growing political and economic power and potentially paves the way for a reset in Canada-China relations in the future.

While the release of Meng Wanzhou to China and Michael Spavor and Michael Korvig to Canada gives cause to celebrate, the underlying reasons that led to their detainments must be analyzed.

If the U.S. ally plays politics in its courts, other countries may follow its lead. Canada won’t look good if China and the U.S. decide to cut a deal regarding the extradition of Meng Wanzhou. It will be left out in the cold with a big boomerang knot on its head.

Meng Wanzhou, on a routine stopover at Vancouver airport, was arrested in December 2018, starting a long drawn extradition process to the U.S. for Bank fraud by

The U.S.’s China Policy directly impacts Canada’s China Policy. And with little change in U.S.-China relations under the Biden Administration, Canada’s policy space between China and the U.S. has stayed relatively the same as well.

Demagogues in Washington are doing their utmost to poison China-U.S. relations. They will stop at nothing. But their attempts at kneecapping should not be allowed to succeed.

Meng Wanzhou is suing the Canadian government for violating her constitutional rights.