As Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, a retired Canadian vice admiral is warning that China is trying to create a new global order.
Vice Admiral Mark Norman further said The The Roy Green Show Saturday that there is a “rapid and worrying” increase in attempts China to “undermine the global system in which Canada has enjoyed operating for the past 80 years.”
He said there are clear efforts to “restore global order in terms of the economy, global supply chain, financial system, our rules-based system that we often refer to, our understanding of physical sovereignty in terms of … the South China Sea and Taiwan.”
“It’s just an ongoing list and they’re very strategic in their actions,” he said. “They are playing a long game.”
What Canada is currently reacting to is only “symptom” of a “much deeper and troubling set of strategies that China has had in place for decades and is implementing to restore the system to their preferred order.”
His comments come as Xi is set to meet Putin from Monday to Wednesday in an apparent show of support. China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and declared last year that it has a “boundless” friendship with Russia.
Canada being left out of AUKUS is ‘concerning’
With the geopolitical forces in the world shifting, Norman also pointed to Canada’s exclusion from the US-Australia-UK AUKUS agreement, which he said is “of concern” for our national security.
“There are other countries that are not as physically or geographically close to the United States that are now much more connected,” he said.
Norman is disappointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dismissive nature of Canada’s exclusion from the pact, which will see the US sell nuclear submarines to Australia. He said the agreement is not just about submarines but is “much deeper than that.”
“What really matters is cooperation in high-level discussions around very important technologies like quantum, biometrics, acoustics,” he said.
“There are a variety of technologies that are being discussed and shared and collaborated on through this agreement. This is a key development in international security and defense, and we are absent. I think it should be of concern why we are absent. I think it will to further damage our reputation and our ability to influence others as we move forward.”
Norman says our exclusion is a direct result of Canada “not being perceived as credible in the way we act and behave.”
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