China, our second-largest trading partner, indicated a desire earlier this month to
. A top embassy official subsequently told me in an interview that Beijing wants to mend relations across the board. It wants to get back to the type of co-operation that existed before the arrest of Huawei executive
on a U.S. extradition request in 2018 and Beijing’s jailing of two Canadians in suspected retaliation. Trade fell by billions of dollars. Then there came the revelations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections, which damaged relations further.
For the Middle Kingdom’s turn, the likely explanation is the re-election of Mr. Trump and his tariff threats, and Beijing’s need, like Canada’s, to find ways to offset them.