Canada launched its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, pledging more resources to deal with a “disturbing” China while working with the world’s second-largest economy on climate change and trade issues.
The 26-page document outlines spending of C$2.3 billion ($1.7 billion), including to increase Canada’s military presence and cybersecurity in the region and tighten foreign investment rules to protect intellectual property. and preventing Chinese state-owned companies from acquiring critical mineral supplies.
The plan is to deepen ties with a fast-growing region of 40 countries, responsible for nearly C$50 trillion in economic activity. But the focus is on China, which is mentioned more than 50 times, at a time when bilateral relations are icy.
“China is an increasingly disruptive global power,” the strategy said. “China is seeking to shape the international order into a more permissive environment for interests and values that are increasingly moving away from our own.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government wants to diversify trade and economic ties that are sorely dependent on the United States. Official data for September show that bilateral trade with China accounted for less than 7% of the total, compared to 68% for the United States.
The strategy highlighted Beijing’s “foreign interference and increasingly coercive treatment by other countries”.
“Our approach… is shaped by a realistic and insightful assessment of China today. In areas of deep disagreement, we will challenge China,” she said.
Tensions rose in late 2018 after Canadian police detained a Huawei Technologies executive and Beijing arrested two Canadians on espionage charges. All three were released last year, but relations remain sour.
Earlier this month, Canada ordered three Chinese companies to abandon their investments in Canadian critical minerals, citing national security.
The document, in a section that mentions China, said Ottawa would review and update legislation that would allow it to act “decisively when investments by state-owned enterprises and other foreign entities threaten our national security, including our supply chains for critical minerals.”
The document recognizes the significant opportunities for Canadian exporters and states that cooperation with Beijing is necessary to address some of the world’s “existential pressures”, including climate change, global health and nuclear proliferation.
Goldy Hyder, CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said it was important for government to turn “aspirations into actions and actions into achievements”.
The document states that Canada will increase its naval presence in the region and “increase our military engagement and intelligence capability as a means of mitigating coercive behavior and threats to regional security.”
Canada belongs to the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, which wants meaningful action in response to North Korean missile launches.
The document said Ottawa was engaging in the region with partners such as the United States and the European Union.
Canada needed to continue talking to nations with which it had fundamental differences, he said, but did not name them. ($1 = 1.3377 Canadian dollars)
Source: CNN Brasil
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