The Evolution of Canada’s Official China Posture

• In Event: Canadian Foreign Policy in a Shifting Global Context

Abstract

The publication of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in the fall of 2022 marks a turning point in Canada’s foreign policy approach to the region in general and to China in particular. This paper has two objectives. First, characterising the evolving official China narrative in Canada over the past 20 years with a focus on recent transformations over the past 5 years. I argue that Canada’s China narrative has evolved in the following 3 significant ways: First, it has evolved from characterising the Canada-China relationship through mostly a bilateral lens, to conceptualising it through multiple lenses, from the domestic to the regional, and to the multilateral. This includes nesting the China relationship within Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. Second, the Canadian posture towards China has evolved towards a differentiation by issue-area. In other words, it has gone from a characterisation of the relationship in terms of trade-offs or dichotomous debates (trade vs human rights), to the conceptualisation of multiple postures simultaneously, across different issue-areas. Third, official China narratives in Canada have introduced a level of complexity that was absent previously, including by working to highlight the global nature of China related foreign policy decisions, with varying degrees of success. This has included going from a narrower to a broader conception of Canadian interests and objectives relevant to Canadian foreign policy on China. The second objective of this paper is to point out areas where the official narrative on China could continue to evolve. I argue that this is the case in at least two areas. First, in terms of going from the characterisation of China as one, unitary, monolith towards assessing Chinese behaviour internationally with more nuance. Second, the differentiation of an assessment of Chinese international behaviour based on Canadian interests or values vs. international law or principles, as well as a differentiation based on legitimate behaviour within the confines of a US-led global order vs. legitimate behaviour in an evolving multipolar global order.

Author

• Pascale Massot, University of Ottawa