Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night, beginning a four-day visit designed to repair foundering relations between the two nations as Canada looks to develop ties with countries other than the United States.

The trip, a whirlwind of meetings with Chinese industry and top government officials, conveyed how the prime minister is viewing the wider world.

“Diplomacy is necessary, grinning is optional, and looking like a supplicant is undignified,” Kovrig said in an interview airing Sunday on CTV’s Question Period. “That’s not a good look. So, the optics could have been better.”

Mark Carney is poised to cut Canada’s steep tariffs on Chinese electric cars in a move likely to infuriate Donald Trump.

Of particular note: crippling Chinese tariffs ranging from 76 to 100 per cent Canadian canola and 25 per cent on pork and seafood

Mark Carney’s decision to open the way for imports of Chinese electric vehicles has rattled Canadian auto executives and raised concerns about how far the prime minister is willing to go in diverging from US strategy.