“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.”

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.

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

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

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

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a new “strategic partnership” with China during a meeting with leader Xi Jinping Friday, as the US ally took steps to reset ties with Beijing in the face of historic friction with Donald Trump.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney makes a historic visit to Beijing, meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and declaring that a 'new world order' is taking shape. The trip marks the first visit by a Canadian leader to China in nearly a decade and signals a dramatic recalibration of Canada’s global strategy as relations with the United States grow increasingly strained.