(Richard Javad Heydarian – The Interpreter) In his oft-cited address at this year’s Davos confab, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned of nothing less than “a rupture in the world order”, where even the “pleasant fiction” of a rules-based international order has succumbed to a “harsh reality” of power politics. In his thinly veiled criticism of US President Donald Trump, who has threatened closest neighbours and allies with tariffs and even military assault, the Canadian leader warned that America’s partners have the option to “diversify to hedge against uncertainty” in American foreign policy. Having just visited China weeks earlier, where the two sides explored a new partnership after years of acrimonious relationship, the Canadian leader clearly signalled that key Western nations see the Asian superpower as a potential alternative partner. Shortly after Carney’s speech, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer followed suit in visiting Beijing, a timely trip which immediately ended the almost decade-long diplomatic “ice age” in bilateral relations and, crucially, culminated in a series of consequential economic and diplomatic deals. For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron visited Beijing in December, where the two sides agreed to work together “to make global economic governance fairer, more just and equitable.” In response, a visibly irked Trump warned allies that it’s “very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.”
Trump hands Beijing a gift: nervous Asian allies | Lowy Institute
