Yet calls have been growing for years for Ottawa to become less reliant on that trade activity, for fears of further funding China’s rise as a global superpower that could overtake the western world, and to counter the growing aggression seen under President Xi Jinping’s leadership.
While partially focused on China, the Indo-Pacific Strategy looks elsewhere in the region for investment and trade opportunities. “There is a generational global shift happening in the region,” she said. “Tensions are flaring, but at the same time, there’s a lot of economic growth. So we need to be there to seize these opportunities and create good jobs at home.”Those tensions, beyond China, include the continued provocations of North Korea through missile tests and threats of nuclear strikes, as well as the unrest in Myanmar, which is still reeling from a military coup nearly two years ago.