A little over two months after his tête-à-tête with Chinese president Xi Jinping on the margins of last fall’s Asia Pacific leaders’ summit in Korea resulted in Jinping extending an open-ended invitation to visit “at a mutually convenient time,” Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to Beijing on Tuesday to “elevate engagement on trade, energy, agriculture, and international security.” (Tuesday through Friday)

As per the advisory released by his office last week, Carney’s stay in China — which, it notes, will be the first by a sitting Canadian prime minister since 2017 – will include meetings with both Jinping and Chinese premier Li Qiang, as well as “other government and business leaders,” but as yet, no additional details on his day-to-day itinerary have been provided.

Joining him for the four-day stint will be a full contingent of front benchers: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath Macdonald, as well as Carney’s parliamentary secretary Kody Blois and the most recent addition to the Liberal caucus lineup, Markham — Unionville, Ont. MP Michael Ma, who was elected under the Conservative banner last spring, but crossed the floor to the Liberals just before the House of Commons shut down for the season in December.

In an interview with CBC News host Rosemary Barton that aired on Sunday,  Blois — who travelled to China in September as part of a trade delegation led by Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe — said that Carney “would like to ‘recalibrate’ Canada’s once-frosty relationship with the Chinese government and look at economic opportunities for the two nations,” and framed the trip as “a continuation of that turning point in the relationship,” although “when asked whether Canadians should expect results next week, (he) declined to comment,” CBC News notes.

Speaking with the Toronto Star, Jody Thomas, who served as national security advisor to his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, suggested that Carney “has to go there … because we have to be in all the uncomfortable places having uncomfortable conversations if we’re going to build alternative markets to the U.S.”

As she sees it, “the challenge is in walking the line in what we want from them, and what they want from us … We have to go in eyes wide open, because we’re not changing them.”

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who, along with Michael Spavor, is one of the ‘two Michaels’ to be detained by China for nearly three years in the wake of the arrest of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, told Canadian Press that Canada “needs to be clear-eyed about the risk of economic coercion,” the wire service reported last week.

“It’s ultimately about keeping hold of your values and your integrity, and having a strategic approach that prioritizes your holistic national interests, rather than just looking at relations deal by deal and agreement by agreement,” Kovrig noted.

He also said that Canada “should be prudent about when and how it speaks out on China, but stressed that, if it stays quiet about egregious acts in exchange for economic benefits, it will allow Beijing to ‘condition it into silence,’” which is “a very diplomatic dance to manage,’” he warned.

In a separate dispatch, CP checked in with Albert Chan Wai-Yip, a former member of the Hong Kong legislature and “longtime critic of China,” who “has accused (China’s) governemnt of ‘crimes against humanity,’” but says it’s “time for Canada to look east again,” the wire service reports.

“The world political order is different now compared with nine years ago,” Chan points out.

“The Americans (are) not a reliable ally anymore, with President Trump saying Canada is going to be the 51st state. We cannot rely on the U.S., so we have to open up a new relationship and new market for Canada.”

Even so, like Kovrig, he thinks Canada “should not lose sight of human rights issues, such as the jailing of pro-democracy dissidents in Hong Kong, in the pursuit of new trade relationships, despite the importance of creating a ‘meaningful dialogue’ with Beijing,” CP notes.

“Chan said he understood the plight of agricultural producers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, adding that direct talks between leaders are important because their personal relationship can be the backbone to further diplomacy. ‘The Canadian economy definitely needs a new market,’ he said. ‘But we have to approach this very cautiously. We should not kowtow or bow to Chinese political pressure.’”

Not surprisingly, several provincial premiers have already weighed in on Carney’s travel plans.

“Good to see (Carney) will be in China next week advancing trade relations,” Saskatchewan’s Moe said in a statement posted to social media last week.

“Hope to see progress on advancing market access for canola and other Canadian products. If we are truly serious about securing, diversifying and expanding Canadian markets around the world, this is a country we should engage with in a serious way.”

For his part, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is “urging (Carney) to stand firm when he travels to China later next week and keep the steep tariffs on its electric vehicles in place,” CBC News points out.

“Ford, an outspoken proponent of his province’s auto industry, says Carney should hold the line. ‘We can’t back down. Simple as that,’ he said during a news conference Thursday. ‘[If] they want to come and open a big manufacturing facility and employ Unifor employees, well, let’s talk … but don’t be shipping cars in not manufactured by Ontarians.’”

As for the voting public, a recent poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Global News suggests that a “small majority of Canadians say they support more trade with Beijing,” with 54 per cent “expressing support for closer trade ties and economic agreements with China,” the network reported on Saturday.

“The results mark a turnaround from 2020, when eight out of 10 Canadians wanted the country to rely less on the Chinese market amid a nadir in relations sparked by foreign interference allegations against Beijing and the arbitrary detention of the ‘two Michaels’.”

After wrapping up the four-day stint in China, Carney is booked in for a brief one-day stop in Doha to “deepen the relationship between Canada and Qatar” during a one-on-one chat with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani before descending on Davos to make the rounds at the yearly gathering of the World Economic Forum.

It’s worth noting that the 13-hour time difference between Ottawa and Beijing could make it more difficult for Carney and his travelling team to keep real-time tabs on the other active and emerging geopolitical stories making headlines, including the ongoing protests in Iran, continuing confusion over the situation in Venezuela and rapidly growing concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump isn’t planning to back down from his implicit threat to take control of Greenland.

On Saturday, the U.K. Daily Mail reported that Trump “has ordered his special forces commanders to draw up a plan for the invasion of Greenland, but is being resisted by senior military figures,” according to its sources.

“The president has asked the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to prepare the invasion plan, but it is being resisted by the joint chiefs of staff on the grounds that it would be illegal, and would not be supported by congress,” with one source claiming senior military officials “have tried to distract Trump by talking about less controversial measures, such as intercepting Russian ‘ghost’ ships, a clandestine network of hundreds of vessels operated by Moscow to evade Western sanctions, or launching a strike on Iran.’”

As per the Mail, “diplomats have war-gamed what they describe as an ‘escalatory scenario’ under which Trump uses force or ‘political coercion’ to sever Greenland’s links to Denmark,” with “one diplomatic cable (describing) the ‘worst-case’ scenario as leading to ‘the destruction of NATO from the inside.’”

During a meeting with his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen in Paris last week, Carney “reaffirmed (that) Canada will always support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark, including Greenland,” according to a readout of the chat.

Also on the radar:

• Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is booked in for back-to-back-to-back events in and around the Greater Toronto Area on Monday, starting with a morning stop at the Malvern Family Resource Centre in Scarborough, Ont., to offer more details on his government’s ongoing push to “support at-risk youth” throughout the region. (Monday a.m.)
•  He’ll also team up with Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin to provide an update on the ongoing “revitalization” of Rouge Beach at Rouge National Urban Park before making his way to Etobicoke to announce, alongside fellow GTA Liberal MP John Zerucelli, a fresh tranche of federal funding aimed at “reducing youth involvement in gangs and violent crime in Toronto’s Rexdale community.” (Monday p.m.)
• Meanwhile, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon joins local Liberal MP Chris Bittle at an unspecified location in Niagara, Ont., to unveil “tariff relief for businesses impacted by trade disruptions.” (Monday a.m.)
• Rounding out the circuit, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon will “will highlight federal priorities aimed at strengthening Canada’s transportation system, reinforcing supply chains and supporting the country’s economic growth” during a midday speech to members of the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce. (Tuesday a.m.)