The Globe and Mail: Vina Nadjibulla, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, a foreign policy think tank, said the federal government owes Canadians a clear explanation as to why it is reopening this defence communication channel, noting that China has grown increasingly assertive in Asia since 2018.
In recent years, China’s armed forces have become far more assertive in contested zones throughout the Indo-Pacific, engaging in close encounters with foreign planes, sending maritime law enforcement ships to confront Philippine resupply craft in the South China Sea, and increasing pressure on Taiwan through frequent military manoeuvres close to the self-governing island. In earlier times, Beijing leaned heavily on negotiation and financial influence to press its sovereignty claims, but today it frequently underpins these with deployments of naval vessels, combat aircraft and civilian-crewed flotillas…