No surprises, no public lectures: Carney on how Xi wants to be treated

Canadian PM Mark Carney calls for unity among middle powers to resist superpowers and shape a new global order. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined his personal formula for dealing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump as he used a visit to Australia to call for middle-sized nations to work together to ensure that great powers cannot “dictate outcomes”.

Making his first visit to Australia as leader, Mr Carney delivered a sober warning about the changing global order but insisted that middle powers can “write our futures”. Noting that the world will “always be driven by great powers”, he shared candid insights into his dealings with the world’s two most powerful leaders.

Discussing his encounters with Mr Xi, he revealed that their first official meeting was at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in November 2025 and that the Chinese President had effectively told him: “Don’t lecture me in public”.

“He chose to spend the first 10-plus minutes discussing how he wanted the personal interaction to be,” Mr Carney told the Lowy Institute think-tank in Sydney on March 4.

“If I were to summarise (his message): No surprises, if you really care about something be clear... And, he didn’t say it this way, but I interpret it as: ‘Don’t lecture me in public, bring issues to me directly’.”

Mr Carney said Canada, like Australia, had endured tense relations with China in recent years and both had been subject to effective trade sanctions. He said the “lesson” that Mr Xi encouraged was “to be very clear about where we’re looking to cooperate and where we’re not”.