Canada-China Brief: COP15 deal with Beijing, new Taiwan office in Montreal & more

This week's edition covers?Canada's COP15 deal with Beijing, the announcement?of a?new Taiwan?representative office?and more.??

First, here's the latest from IPD:

IPD's?Roundup

Dialogue on the Future of Canada-China Environmental Diplomacy

On the sidelines of the 15th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), IPD partnered with?the Canada China Forum and the Climate Action Network?to co-host a dialogue on Canada-China environmental cooperation with civil society, private sector, and retired civil service stakeholders. A summary report on the event will be published next month.

HIGHLIGHTS

The roundtable featured?speakers including?Eddy Pérez,?Climate Diplomacy Director at the Climate Action Network, Li Shuo, Global Policy Advisor at?Greenpeace East Asia, and Henri-Paul Normandin, former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. Takeaways from the discussion include:

No solution?without China?—?Questions of climate change and biodiversity cannot be resolved without cooperation with Beijing:

• Although environmental diplomacy has been an area that has largely been unimpacted by geopolitical tensions; it also hasn’t been immune. Protecting and guarding environmental diplomacy from geopolitics as a space of engagement will be critical.
• Canada and China have decades of environmental cooperation through the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a high-level advisory body created in 1992 to strengthen environmental policy exchange.

COP15 provides momentum?—?Both sides coordinated talks for months?to pave the way for the adoption of a framework agreement on biodiversity:

• Tense bilateral relations make it increasingly difficult to produce concrete results on cooperative areas, but COP15 builds?positive momentum in environmental diplomacy for Canada and China to lead and influence with their respective partners.
• Both sides have stakes in COP15's success as?it marks the first time that China is responsible for the adoption of an international environmental agreement. For Canada, it is?a landmark?environmental agreement signed on Canadian soil.
• Engagement on environmental issues across stakeholders, whether between governmental, public, private or civil society organizations, will be critical to work together for a common future.

Symposium on Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy

IPD gathered?experts and stakeholders across the country to provide a cross-partisan and cross-industry assessment of the effectiveness of Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy in addressing core national priorities, including?the future of Canada's trade, key diplomatic relationships, and broader foreign policy principles.

The Hill Times: Armed With a Strategy, is Canada Talking With or Talking Past Asia?

In an op-ed for The Hill Times on Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, Research Associate Johnsen Romero suggests "that Asia has loudly—and repeatedly—voiced its perspectives on how external partners should engage the region should warrant greater attention in Ottawa."

The Hill: Ottawa Gets Tough With Beijing

In an op-ed for The Hill, Senior Fellow Andrew Latham suggests that "even Canada, a country that has often fancied itself above the grubby business of geopolitics, has conceded that the tide has turned and moved from hedging to outright balancing — at least rhetorically, if not yet in practical terms."

Le Devoir: The Difficult Exercise of Reconnecting with China

Advisor Jocelyn Coulon authored an article (in French) for Le Devoir, writing that Mélanie Joly's mark on Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy indicates?"a synthesis between the aggressive positions of the United States and the more nuanced positions of Europe and even Australia and New Zealand."

Top Stories

China and Canada clinch global COP15 deal in Montreal

Environment Minister?Steven Guilbeault clasped hands with Chinese counterpart Huang Runqiu on the final day of the COP15 summit as talks produced an agreement by over 190 countries to adopt the?Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

What's in it —?Succeeding the Aichi Biodiversity Targets agreed to in 2010, the Framework sets out 4 goals and 23 targets over the next decade and beyond:

• China's final text?includes ?the objective of 30% of all land and sea area?being set aside for restoration or conservation by 2030, a move heavily pushed for by developed countries including Canada as the '30x30 target'.
• Biodiversity financing or 'resource mobilization'?was key, with the Framework goalsetting $200 billion per year in all flows by 2030?from "domestic, international, public and private resources" and?vowing ?a special fund from within the existing?Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• In the immediate term, the text obligates?developed countries and "countries that voluntarily assume obligations of developed country Parties" — a nod to China — to raise transfers to developing states to?$20 billion per year by 2025, and at least $30 billion per year by 2030.
• As part of its national commitments, Ottawa?announced ?$255 million in conservation financing for developing economies, including a $219 million package allocated towards dues to replenish the GEF from 2022 to 2027.

North-South divide?—?Industrialized and developing economies bitterly?contested ?specific targets and accountability, especially around financing:

• Biodiversity funding from developed states was a major sticking point, with Canada joining European delegates in resisting the creation of a new fund for developing nations and France's Emmanuel Macron calling it a "red line."
• Ottawa also joined the EU, UK, and Japan in demanding the language of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' — the principle that developed economies have greater burden-sharing in climate change — be excluded from the talks altogether.
• As chair of the talks, China?paired ?environmental ministers from industrialized and industrializing states to negotiate the most contentious points, with Rwanda and Germany tackling finance and Canada with Egypt to resolve "key remaining issues."
• One European negotiator?acknowledged ?that Beijing was "very clever" by pushing the EU to concede more developing state financing in exchange for more ambitious targets in the text which "blocked our margins of maneuver," adding?"it was very well played."

Sustainable mineral pact —?On the sidelines, Natural Resource Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced a 'Sustainable Critical Minerals Alliance':

• Joined by most G7 countries and Australia, a?press release ?stated that the supplier pact?is premised on "geopolitical dynamics" and members that will promote?"human rights, sustainability and the highest environmental, social and governance standards" in supply chains.
• Wilkinson?stated ?that if exporters like Beijing cannot uphold the pact's standards, "we will be buying alternatives as we can... Obviously right now there are some critical minerals that are processed in large measure in China so this will be something that will need to happen over time."
• The minister?claimed ?the group was not aimed at China but it would determine "where we buy minerals from" and that “if you are a country that has critical mineral resources, and you want to sell it to the United Kingdom, or to Japan or to Canada, you need to respect those principles.”
• Prime Minister Trudeau was more explicit,?saying ?"we don't want to be reliant on authoritarian states for our sources. So that's one of the reasons why Canada, over the past years, has really set up this entire supply chain" and emerged as a battery?supplier "right after China."

Canada-China silver lining —?Guilbeault and Huang repeatedly struck notes of optimism on their working relationship as the talks progressed:

• In an?op-ed ?for the Hill Times, Huang stated that "China has been proactively cooperating with Canada" and that he has "maintained close communication with Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault" in the lead-up to the conference.
• Guilbeault?revealed ?he had to?make an "impassioned pitch" to Trudeau for the idea of co-hosting COP15 with China, a "huge gamble" which with the backing of Minister Joly he framed as a means of rebuilding bridges with Beijing.
• Before the conclusion of the talks, Guilbeault?noted ?the complementarity between the two as?“China has very good contacts with countries in Asia and Africa... We are part of the donor countries. So we are both trying to use our contact networks.”
• By COP15's end, the minister?observed ?that "I've never seen a presidency text tabled and have so much support for it from the get-go" and that?"we both decided to set aside our differences... to focus on what unites us," adding "what China and Canada have accomplished together in our relationship is symbolic of what we've accomplished here together."

What commentators think —?Sentiment has generally been positive on the COP15 partnership with caution on the need to secure long-term outcomes:

• Li Shuo, Senior Policy Adviser for Greenpeace East Asia,?said ?"the Chinese presidency stood between talks that often pitted the Global North against the Global South and that middle zone turned out to be Beijing’s sweet spot. It capitalized by brokering a balanced and solid deal."
• Caroline Brouillette, National Policy Director of Climate Action Network,?called ?COP15 a?bilateral "breakthrough"?as both "have demonstrated a remarkable coordination, effectiveness, and goodwill in working together, which has helped land the global solidarity necessary to achieve a deal."
• Lin Boqiang, Director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, skeptically?remarked ?that?"judging by developed countries' blustery promises on climate issues, whether they will pay the money on biodiversity remains questionable."
• Zhang Jiunyu, Executive Dean of the BRI Green Development Institute, cautiously?noted ?that "developed nations made a commitment to the developing countries of a $100 billion in 2009 and their implementation, their fulfilment of those commitments are far short."

Taiwan pledges new representative office as envoy praises Indo-Pacific strategy

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it would open a new representative office in Montreal, its fourth in the country. It comes on the back of praise from?its Canadian envoy for Ottawa's recently-released Indo-Pacific Strategy which makes explicit?reference to Taipei.

Eyeing technology cooperation —?Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou?shared ?the news, saying the decision was taken after prolonged deliberation:

• "After extensive research, the government of Taiwan has decided to establish the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Montreal," adding that it "will contribute to further deepening reciprocal and mutually beneficial cooperation" including in?"jointly forging a prosperous Indo-Pacific."
• Noting Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy and Montreal as an industry hub for the technology sector, she said Ottawa "particularly aims to enhance economic and people-to-people ties with Taiwan and further develop the bilateral partnership in science, technology, and innovation."

New man in Ottawa —?Harry Ho-jen Tseng, Taiwan's newest appointed top diplomat in Canada, took to the media to reflect on future ties:

• Speaking The Hill Times on Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy, Tseng — who previously served as Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and as Director General of the North America division?—?stated ?"we are happy that Taiwan is mentioned directly."
• “To be honest, there were some concerns, not from us only, but from our friends here in Canada, a lot from these think tank communities. They [were] worried that if there is an Indo-Pacific strategy without referring to Taiwan directly, that is a pretty clear indication that you don’t want to upset our neighbour — China."
• Tseng expressed that his "top priority" was to finalize the?foreign investment promotion and protection arrangement under negotiation between the two economies as well as Taiwan's application to the CPTPP, saying "we hope that we can have Canada’s support."

What They're Saying

Although the intent of Freeland’s speech [on friendshoring] is not to make the case for a new Cold War, a deepening of ties among democratic countries and a severing of links with autocratic ones risks doing just that by widening this divide...?Too closed a club of democracies risks further dividing the world. Such division would leave Canada with less leverage and less global relevance. Canada has few levers to dampen growing geopolitical rivalry and should not be leading the charge toward a sharpening of the global divide.?What is needed is not resignation to an age of geopolitical rivalry, but creative diplomacy that seeks to explore all avenues to tackle global problems and re-establish the habits of self-interested collaboration.

—?Kerry Buck & Michael Manulak , Former Canadian Ambassador to NATO & Assistant Professor, Carleton University

Imposing the rules made by a particular country or group on others not only fails to reflect the geopolitical situation and reality in the so-called Indo-Pacific but also becomes the antithesis of multilateralism, which harms regional inclusivity. What's worse, those who are undermining international order based on international law, and damaging sovereignty of other countries, are the real 'disruptive power'...?the 'China containment'?logic is not in the interests of both sides.

—?Xu Yanzhuo , Research Fellow, Institute of World Economics &?Politics

The strategy is primarily a reset of how Canada views China in the Xi Jinping era, pivoting away from what has become a dangerously dependent trade relationship. Worthy objectives, but it raises the question: Shouldn’t we have a comprehensive economic strategy for our own Western Hemisphere? The unequivocal answer is yes. The geopolitical calculus is twofold, not only in diversifying away from China but also in helping others in such diversification...?ultimately, a hemispheric strategy is about zeroing in on untapped potentials and securing our economic future.

—?Kevin Lynch , Former Clerk of the Privy Council

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IMAGE CREDIT:?OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER ?|?MéLANIE JOLY ?|?OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER ?|?STEVEN GUILBEAULT ?|?MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS