Canada is reportedly trying to create a cooperation framework with Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States in order to counterbalance China, although it already has a strategy in place that aims to expand military, security, trade and diplomatic ties with nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The idea was transferred directly to Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida when he visited Ottawa in January, according to Kyodo News on Monday.
Regardless of how viable the plan is, Japan has already told the Canadian government that it would take time to realize the concept - that Canada is taking an increasingly confrontational stance against China, which exposes Ottawa's Cold War mentality.
Ottawa has an erroneous perception of China and is ready to support Washington's anti-China strategy as part of its efforts to push back against any unilateral actions that threaten the status quo in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, according to the strategy document released by the Justin Trudeau government in November.
Such a perception is by no means the clear-eyed assessment of today's China that Canada claims.
As Ottawa wrongly perceives, China has never been a threat to Canada or international peace, security and development. Despite the worsening of bilateral relations in recent years, China remains one of the most important trading partners of Canada, with Canadian exports to China exceeding those to Japan, the ROK and India in 2021, and imports from China equal to those from the European Union and overshadowing imports from all other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ottawa is a blind obedience to Washington's anti-China line that is sabotaging the once friendly Sino-Canadian ties.
In order to contain the growing influence of China in the region, the US has reactivated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, that connects it with Japan, India and Australia, and established AUKUS, a new security and defence partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom. Canada has been left out of both security structures, despite being a member of the Anglo-Saxon club, which may explain the eagerness with which it is trying to ingratiate itself with the US by antagonizing China.
Ottawa should work to correct its wrong perception of China before it is too late.