Canada and China thaw continues as militaries hold first talks in 8 years amid US pressure
The resumption of talks between the two armed forces comes as Ottawa reaches out to Beijing following a series of spats with Donald Trump
China and Canada’s armed forces held their first round of talks in eight years on Friday in the face of growing tensions with the United States.
The Chinese defence ministry said there had been a candid and in-depth exchange of views on international and regional issues of common concern.
“[Both sides] expressed willingness to strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries, and enhanced mutual understanding and trust,” the ministry added.
It was the first meeting through a channel known as the Defence Coordination Dialogue since April 2018 and the fifth since it was launched in 2013.
However, during that time, the then Canadian defence minister Bill Blair met his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2024.
China and Canada have been working to reset relations after years of tension by resuming high-level exchanges, expanding direct flights and working to ease trade tensions in areas such as agriculture and electric vehicles.
In July, Li Yao, the defence attache at the Chinese embassy in Canada, said the “continued improvement” of relations between the two countries had “created favourable conditions for closer communication and exchanges between the two militaries”.
The Chinese statement did not say who led the talks on its side, but General Yang Zhibin, head of the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, was in Canada this week for the Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Victoria, British Columbia.
He met the head of US Pacific Command Samuel Paparo on Monday, ending a two-year break in command-level contact between the two sides.
On Wednesday, Paparo called Canada a “close ally” and dismissed a question about a US military attack on Canada as “absolutely and utterly preposterous”.
Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state of the US and he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” after trade talks between the two neighbours collapsed last month.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had walked away from the talks because of “unreasonable demands” from the US and announced a series of retaliatory tariffs.
Carney has also called for Canada and other “middle powers” to play a more active role on the international stage.
The country has increased its military presence on the opposite side of the Pacific, taking part in the annual US-Philippine Balikatan exercises for the first time this year.
Troops from Japan, Australia, New Zealand and France also took part in the drills.
Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty previously said the country’s navy would take part in other exercises in the Indo-Pacific this year, including port calls in Japan.
He added there was no contradiction between deeper defence ties with allies and closer trade relations with Beijing.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3366477/canada-and-china-thaw-continues-militaries-hold-first-talks-8-years-amid-us-pressure