Carney sets out to deepen ties with China. Has the threat landscape changed?

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On the sidelines of the APEC summit this coming week, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, in the hopes of deepening…

On the sidelines of the APEC summit this coming week, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, in hopes of deepening economic and trade ties.

It's the second meeting between the two leaders in less than a year, and this time it will take place in Shenzen, China, where the summit is being held on Wednesday and Thursday.

While Carney has been working to rebuild Canada's economic and trade relationship with China, experts warn that it doesn't mean the threat to Canada has weakened.

Canada's relationship with China might have improved, but the "serious national and economic security threats to Canada ... have not fundamentally changed," said Vina Nadjibulla, co-founder and CEO of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, a new non-partisan think-tank with offices in Vancouver and Ottawa.

"What has changed is not China's behaviour but Canada's strategic circumstances and the Carney government's approach," she told CBC News. "With growing uncertainty in our relationship with the United States, there are compelling reasons to stabilize relations with Beijing, pursue economic opportunities and diversify our trade."

In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live that aired Sunday, Jody Thomas, national security adviser to Justin Trudeau when he was prime minister, echoed Nadjibulla's views, adding that "the prime minister is pursuing an economic relationship, I hope, and I think with the understanding of the national security threat posed by China."

Speaking to reporters in Montreal on Tuesday, Carney said he will raise concerns about foreign interference in Canada, adding, "The advantage of these meetings is you can raise issues directly and frankly."

Carney said he would be bringing up the importance that Canada attaches "to the non-interference in our affairs by China and other countries."

The economic and trade relationship between Canada and China "is something that is deepening but has clear guardrails in terms of the areas in which…

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