There is ‘much alignment’ between Canada, China on Greenland, Arctic sovereignty

On Friday, he told reporters he’s considering imposing tariffs on countries that oppose his plans for Greenland.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. would like to buy the island, something officials in both Greenland and Denmark have said is not going to happen.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said an American takeover of the island would mark the end of NATO.

Trump also has claimed that if the U.S. doesn’t have control of Greenland, Russia or China would try to take it over. Arctic experts say that claim is false.

China, which views itself as a “near-Arctic state,” has taken an increasingly aggressive posture in the region that includes joint military exercises with Russia near Canadian territory and around Alaska.

Canada’s latest defence policy warns of Chinese and Russian ambitions in the Arctic and says China’s interests “increasingly diverge from our own on matters of defence and security.”

That policy was released in May 2024, before Carney came to office and began a major reset of relations with China.

He told reporters Friday that his government has increased Canada’s military presence in the Arctic “to 365 days a year on land, sea, and in the air.”

Several European countries have recently sent troops to Greenland in response to Trump’s threats.

Carney said Canada and Denmark are working together through NATO and the Nordic Baltic Eight group, and noted Ottawa plans to formally open a consulate in Greenland’s capital Nuuk next month.

Carney’s meeting with Xi in Korea in October and his trip to Beijing this week mark the first interactions between the heads of the two countries since 2017.

A statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office after the meeting said Canada and China are “both strong advocates of multilateralism.”

After the bilateral meeting, Carney announced the two countries cut a deal to dramatically reduce their respective tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Canadian agriculture products.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

There is ‘much alignment’ between Canada, China on Greenland, Arctic sovereignty

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