In the Canada Elections, Mark Carneys China's experience becomes a passive

Invited to appoint the greatest threat to the security of Canada during an electoral debate, Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of the country and the Liberal Party leader to win a full mandate, gave a surprising response: China.

Analysts have seen him as an attempt to distance themselves from the country in the midst of an in-depth examination on his own work over there.

Carney, a former central banker and business director, has treated Chinese establishment in his recent private sector roles for companies with investments in China.

But what was once an asset experience working with an increasing world power has become a political responsibility in the national Monday elections.

Mr. Carney and the Liberals were criticized to support a parliamentary candidate with links with groups representing the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. Foreign interference in diaspora communities in Canada by China, India and other nations has been a concern for both parties and the information subject.

The relationship between Canada and China has deteriorated strongly following a diplomatic crisis that started when Canada owned a Chinese executive in 2018 on behalf of the United States.

A few days later, the Chinese authorities arrested two Canadian men, holding them for two and a half years.

For many Canadians, the dispute highlighted the impressive of the Chinese Communist Party.

If you take the pulse of Canadian society, most people have unfavorable opinions on China, said Lynette NGO, a teacher of Chinese politics at the University of Toronto. It is politically incorrect to say aloud that it is necessary to work with China on certain questions.

Among the various accusations against Mr. Carney as he tried to lead his party to the victory in the elections on Monday, the assertions on his allegedly harmful links with China were the most persistent.

A lot of hats

In 2020, Carney became chairman of the Brookfield Asset Management board of directors, a Canadian investment giant and an investor in the Chinese property markets and renewable energies.

From August 2023, he was also chairman of the board of directors of Bloomberg, the media company, and in September 2024, he played an unpaid role as an economic adviser to the Liberal Party of Canada under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He resigned from all his roles in January to present himself to replace Mr. Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party.

He visited China at least twice last year.

The Canada Conservative Party granted a loan that Brookfield received in November from China State Banque for its real estate investments in Shanghai as proof that Mr. Carney is liable to Beijing.

Pierre Poilievre, the conservative chief, said that Mr. Carney had secret discussions with the vice-government of the Chinese central bank in October. Two weeks later, Brookfield obtained a loan of a quarter of a billion dollars, he added, describing Mr. Carney as a compromise.

The October meeting was not secret. The Chinese government has published a statement on this subject saying that the two parties had discussed opinions on the current economic and financial situation.

Foreign companies often get loans from Chinese banks for investments and business in the country, and as the Chinas real estate crisis has deepened in recent years, Beijing has given Chinese Banks Green Light to help certain developers and real estate projects.

But there is no doubt that the representation of Western affairs in China has become complicated under the leadership of the president of Chinas, Xi Jinping, because he sought to integrate the party more deeply in the business sector.

Western distrust has also grown up compared to the geopolitical ambitions of Chinas under M. XI.

While the Directors General once sprang with Chinas more than a billion customers, these days, they prefer to avoid any mention of China.

At the beginning of 2024, foreign investments had dropped and some foreign companies were even engineering outings in China.

Thus, when the leaders of 20 American companies, including Mr. Carney, presented themselves for a rare meeting in March 2024 with Mr. XI, it was designed in China as a signal that the largest companies in the world still support the country.

Carney attended the meeting as chairman of the Bloombergs board of directors and then held near Mr. XI at the forefront during a group photo. Bloomberg refused to comment on the presence of Mr. Carneys.

Two brands

Whatever hat he wore, Mark Carney's word during the March 2024 event in Beijing seemed different from the Mark Carney of today.

The leaders of the room said that they would continue to explore the Chinese market and develop a close cooperative relationship with China, according to the state media blanket from Reunion.

I am very clever about China, Carney told journalists this month. This is the second economy in the world, it is our second trading partner, it is also and poorly used my words carefully since I am informed of these questions one of the greatest threats with regard to foreign interference.

He added: We both have to engage with China and take measures to protect us.

The United States continuing a trade war with China and applying Canada and other allies, Canada is sandwiching between the United States and China, NGO said.

The next Prime Minister of Canadas, she added, will face China as a necessary threat and partner on certain questions.

You can do both, she said. They should not be mutually exclusive.

Zixu Wang contributed to the search for Hong Kong.