Written by: Yves Engler

Canadian officials’ statements and actions are inching us towards war with China by blindly following maniacal US policy.

Last Friday, the Liberals released a new Arctic strategy that suggests China is a threat. But China is 1,500 kilometres away from the Arctic and doesn't dispute any Canadian claim there, while the US does.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa released a statement criticizing it. It noted, “the Canadian government issued a so-called ‘Arctic Foreign Policy’, which distorts and misinterprets China’s Arctic policy and discredits China’s normal Arctic activities in accordance with international law. China firmly opposes it.”

At last month’s Halifax Security Forum (HSF), defence minister Bill Blair said Canada would boost military spending partly in response to China’s military buildup. Blair was reinforcing Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre’s 2023 comment that China saw itself “at war” with Canada and its allies.

At the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal, three weeks ago, the final declaration described China as a threat. It criticized China for purportedly being “an enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine” and condemned the “growing collusion between autocratic regimes in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Belarus.” Similarly at the NATO summit in the summer the final declaration said China “poses systemic challenges to Euro-Atlantic security.”

Alongside these statements, Canada has steadily built up its military presence near China.

Canadian vessels have been involved in evermore “freedom of navigation” exercises through international waters Beijing claims in the South China Sea, Strait of Taiwan and East China Sea. HMCS Vancouver recently travelled through the Taiwan Straight with USS Higgins, which Beijing condemned as a provocation.

As per Canada’s two-year-old Indo Pacific Strategy, the goal is to augment the number of warships in East Asia from one to three vessels. Canadian spy planes have also regularly been flying near China.

One way Ottawa has justified this militarization is by suggesting Canadian forces are enforcing UN sanctions on the DPRK (also known as North Korea). But the UN Security Council has not approved a mission to enforce these sanctions. Ottawa recently joined Washington in launching the “Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team for implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.

Canadian military assets are often stationed at the US military base in Okinawa, Japan. Ottawa has supported Washington in pressing Japan to break from its ‘pacifist’ era after its atrocities across Asia before and during WWII, and re-militarize as a linchpin in US strategy to encircle China militarily. Last year the Canadian government praised Japan for massively increasing its military spending.

Ottawa is also working with Australia to counter China. “Canada and Australia, eyeing China, signal more military cooperation”, noted a Reuters headline in August.

Ottawa has also assisted Washington’s push to turn the Philippines into a bulwark against China. Since Bongbong Marcos came to power two years ago, the US has established four new bases there and promoted Filipino territorial claims opposed by China and other states.

At the start of the year, Canada signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation with the Philippines. In June, HMCS Montreal participated in Canada’s first ever naval patrol with a Filipino vessel in the South China Sea. Two months later the frigate visited Philippines and then participated in a US-Australia-Philippines operation in the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

A year ago, Ottawa offered Philippines satellite technology to track fishing boats even when they shutter their location transmitting devices. “Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection tech helps Philippines manage territorial dispute with China”, explained a June Globe and Mail headline.

Ottawa has also been pressing another sensitive regional issue pushed by right-wing US foreign policy hawks. Two weeks ago, Canada joined the US, Australia and Japan in the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, which assists Taiwan in fields from which it’s excluded from international bodies. In September, a large delegation of former Canadian security officials, led by former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) director Richard Fadden, went to the Taiwan area to deepen informal relations to counter mainland China’s bid to isolate Taiwan diplomatically.

Additionally, last month a government official suggested Taiwan was a country, chipping away at Canada’s ‘one-China’ policy, which has quietly been attacked by our very own government for years.

As Ottawa takes steps towards war, Canada’s China policy is a paradox. Canadian corporations continue to expand there. There are 1000 Tim Hortons locations in China and Canada Goose sells loads of jackets in the country. China is a huge market for Canadian agricultural products. Bilateral trade continues to grow since China has a fifth of the world’s population and a dynamic economy.

At the same time Canada seems unable, or unwilling, to resist an unhinged US policy to ‘contain’ China by encircling that country militarily and using various forms of economic warfare including tariffs and ‘security’ sanctions that are likely to backfire, ultimately making China stronger, not weaker.

It is not in Canada’s self-interest to follow these US policies. Economists argue diversifying our export markets is good, not bad. War with China would be a disaster for humanity. So, what explains Ottawa’s words and actions? Could it be that Ottawa feels blackmailed by Washington? Could it be that our neighbour across ‘the world’s longest undefended border’ is threatening our government if it doesn’t kowtow to its anti-China policies? Only time will tell.

Yves Engler is the author of 13 books. His latest book, available now, is "Canada's Long Fight Against Democracy”.

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