As Canada approaches the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with China—and as politicians in both countries continue to grapple with the fallout from the recent detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in British Columbia and the ensuing arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by the Chinese government—journalist and author Jonathan Manthorpe calls it a “great irony” that after decades of engagement, we’re now ensconced in “the greatest crisis in the relationship that there has been over this period.”