Canada-China Brief: Joly's 'Pragmatic Diplomacy' With Wang Yi, Ottawa's New China Research Restrictions & More

This week's edition of IPD's Canada-China Brief covers?Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly's call with Wang Yi this month, Ottawa's announcement of new research collaboration restrictions with China, and more.

First, here is the latest from IPD:

IPD'S?ROUNDUP

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: Sailing in Troubled Waters

For IPD’s project?'European Security in a Shifting World Order: Debating Canada’s Role', contributor Brian Job writes that "with Ottawa preoccupied with the crises of other regions, the Indo-Pacific is in danger of slipping to the backburner. This is reinforced by Ottawa’s default stance of viewing Asia through a US and Euro-Atlantic lens."

The United States and China in the Multi-Aligned Middle East: A New Strategy for American Influence

Contributing to IPD’s project and policy paper series 'The Middle East in a Multipolar World', Jennifer Kavanagh writes that "countries across the Middle East are no longer willing to work only with the United States. But neither are they interested in working only with China... This reality should be the centrepiece of U.S. foreign policy in the region."

TOP STORIES

Calling Wang Yi, Joly Cites 'Pragmatic Diplomacy' for Path Forward

In the first exchange between foreign ministers since?last year,?Mélanie Joly and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi spoke over the phone earlier this month to discuss the stabilization of relations and the international security environment.

Deploying 'pragmatic diplomacy'?— Global Affairs Canada's press release noted how the two pushed to constructively find ways to improve ties:

• Joly raised "concrete priorities for forward collaboration, including fighting climate change and deepening our economic and people-to-people ties" while "both ministers tasked their respective officials to advance next steps."
• Appearing to recognize China's importance in managing global issues, "Joly highlighted that amidst an international security crisis, Canada will pursue pragmatic diplomacy" as talks covered Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza war, and more.
• The minister also reiterated that Canada would?"uphold its interests and values... and defend the international rules-based order" while both sides "highlighted that despite recent challenges in the bilateral relationship, it is important to keep communication channels open."
• Beijing's readout noted that Joly underscored how "healthy and stable Canada-China relations serve the fundamental interests of the two countries" as Ottawa "is willing to bring bilateral relations back to the right track with a more open, practical and constructive attitude."

Beijing's three-point proposal?— Wang Yi reiterated a roadmap for Ottawa and Beijing to steady relations that he proposed in 2022:

• Wang referred to how the two "have neither historical rows nor realistic conflicts of interests" and that "the current challenging China-Canada relationship is not what China desires, nor is caused by China, while China is open to maintaining contact and dialogue."
• On his proposal, Wang first said there was a need to "correct cognition" as "the root cause of the downturn of China-Canada relations in recent years is the serious deviation of the Canadian side's perception of China."
• Secondly noting "mutual respect,"?Wang called on both to?"engage in dialogue on an equal footing" and "not to let differences dominate bilateral relations" while urging?Ottawa to "implement its commitment to the one-China policy" vis-a-vis?signals to Taiwan.
• Lastly underlining "win-win cooperation,"?Wang said that "as promoters and beneficiaries of free trade, China and Canada should jointly oppose the politicization and pan-security of economic issues."
• The points appear?to echo Wang's three-point?proposal?to Joly in 2022?that urged a?"pragmatic China policy," respect for respective "core interests" as well as?refrain from "new obstacles," and a call to?"uphold independence and eliminate unnecessary external interference."

'A complicated dance partner'?— Canadian Ambassador to China Jennifer May spoke to CBC at length about ties and Ottawa's interference inquiry:

• On looking to the future, May acknowledged that "it's not going to be a complete...?full steam ahead and all positive. But just because we have setbacks in some areas doesn't mean that we can't pursue positive areas of co-operation in other areas."
• "It's a complicated dance partner, and anybody who dances knows that sometimes you're moving forwards and sometimes you're moving backwards, and other times you're spinning around. And so that's how I see our dance with China."
• May stated that the foreign interference inquiry?"is going to be something that is going to be deeply uncomfortable for the Chinese government" as she has frank bilateral talks, adding that?"an important part of diplomacy?is to be able to have tough discussions."
• May noted that joint efforts against fentanyl would be one area of tentative collaboration as "the scourge is incredible and the Chinese side recognizes that... China is engaging with us on this. That's a good news story."
• Questioned on Taiwan, May said that "the important goal at this point is to make sure we are maintaining the status quo which is a peaceful status quo, not to take any actions that would increase the temperature in a sensitive area."

What commentators think — Experts have characterized the call as productive but?momentum will require great care given?political conditions:

• Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Foundation, said the call "is a positive development. We need to have regular dialogue at the highest levels" and that "it's important, not because we need to have some kind of a normalization of relations or rapprochement."
• Li Haidong, Professor at China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, stated?that "the prerequisite for recovering and improving bilateral ties is for Canada to respect China's core interests, particularly to adhere to the one-China principle."
• Stephen Nagy, Professor at Tokyo's International Christian University, said?signs of engagement were positive but needed to manage a "highly politicized" environment as "both sides will need to do the hard work of diplomacy and trust building behind closed doors through concrete action."?
• On restoring?senior-level talks, John Gruetzner, Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, observed that "the public and the media must learn to accept that a return to traditional diplomacy at the Minister-to-Minister level does not confer total agreement."

Ottawa Reveals New?Restrictions on Research Collaboration with China?

Innovation Minister Fran?ois-Philippe Champagne led a joint announcement with Health Minister Mark Holland and Public Safety Minister?Dominic LeBlanc that introduced new measures limiting funds for research cooperation with China in what it deems 'sensitive technology'.

The national security umbrella?— The joint statement justified the new rules over the need to safeguard innovation from foreign threats:

• The ministers cautioned that the Canadian research community's?"openness can make it a target for foreign influence, increasing the potential risks for research and development efforts to be misappropriated to the detriment of national security."
• New rules specifically eye research involving those?"affiliated with, or in receipt of funding or in-kind support from, a university, research institute or laboratory connected to military, national defence or state security entities that pose a risk to Canada’s national security."
• "Recognizing that threats evolve and can come from anywhere in the world, both lists [of sensitive technologies and restricted institutions]?will be regularly reviewed to keep pace with the latest developments in research...?Protecting Canadian research is our top priority."
• In an emailed statement, Champagne's ministry said that the Five Eyes were?“committed to enhanced coordination” on research security and that Canada was a “trailblazer... the first among allies to apply specific eligibility requirements to the majority of federally funded grant programmes.”
• In a press conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that the measures target Chinese institutions "under the pretext of so-called national security risks" and were "not conducive to improving and stabilizing the bilateral relations."

China tops blacklist?— China makes up the majority of 'Named Research Organizations' bannable?from federally-funded research cooperation:

• The government characterizes the entities identified as any "university, research institute or laboratory connected to military, national defence, or state security entities that could pose a risk to Canada’s national security."
• Designations encompass?85 Chinese institutions trailed by?12 Iranian and six Russian entities, including Chinese military academies, defence colleges, and public universities including Sichuan University, Hunan University, Tianjin University, and more.
• A new 'Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern' states that "Canada’s research security policies remain country-agnostic" in its restriction of knowledge transfer of "dual use applications" which are "major challenges to Canada and its allies."
• A further list of 'Sensitive Technology Research Areas' that is subject to expansion identifies "advanced and emerging technologies that are important to Canadian research" but "of interest to foreign state, state-sponsored, and non-state actors."
• The list covers dozens of fields including communications, computing, energy storage and transmission, advanced materials and 3D printing, aerospace, AI, biotechnology, genetic engineering and gene therapy, quantum science, robotics and more.

Chill on ethnic communities?— Internal documents obtained by media indicate government awareness of the rules' spillover effects:

• The Canadian Press examined?2023 deputy minister briefings?from Public Safety Canada noting?that researchers would require guidance?"that is proportionate and does not inappropriately limit academic freedom."
• The documents also acknowledged "strong concern about a chill within the research community (e.g. ethnic communities may be targeted). Well-considered messaging will be needed to mitigate this risk."
• They added that the designation of overseas?institutions "will have an impact on Canada's bilateral relations" as Ottawa also wanted rules to reflect "an anti-racism lens" that would promote "inclusive environments and target only threats, not groups of people."
• The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa stated that the rules' announcement "politicizes and weaponizes scientific and technological cooperation issues, which is completely a short-sighted act of pursuing 'small yards with high fences'."

'Everything under the sun' — Academic and university organizations have responded to the new measures and weighed in on their impact:

• Philip Landon, interim President of Universities Canada, characterized the list as "almost everything under the sun," adding that although universities have prepared security policies over the years to match Ottawa's calls,?"the impact won’t be zero."
• Ian Milligan, Associate Vice President at the University of Waterloo, warned that?“the scope [of the rules] is significant" and "will affect many of our researchers," necessitating a taskforce of?“several people working full-time” to brief faculty into compliance.
• Chad Gaffield, CEO of U15 —?representing 15 research universities — said its members "take the importance of securing research from foreign threats extremely seriously... This is another step towards hardening Canadian research from malign threats.”
• David Robinson, Executive Director?of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, noted that the list of areas deemed sensitive?"includes pretty much anything in the engineering field. And that’s got a lot of our members nervous."
• Robinson elaborated that “I’ve even had a couple of members reach out, particularly those of Chinese descent, saying they are about to pack it in and leave Canada... We have to be sure we don’t suffocate international collaborations and academic freedom."

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

The formal part of Ottawa’s engagement with Beijing in 2024 must include visits by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, International Trade Minister, Minister of Agriculture, and ideally Minister of Public Safety and Minister of Justice. This is no different than the approach that the Biden Administration started last year... the goal of these meetings is to develop sufficient rapport to work with Beijing to obtain some tangible commitments on areas that are of importance to Canada’s own pragmatic needs but also underscore the benefits to Beijing of adhering to the global rule of law.

— John Gruetzner, Fellow, Canadian Global Affairs Institute

Provisional membership could potentially allow participation in CPTPP working groups and meetings as observers.?This approach provides equitable treatment to both China and Taiwan while recognizing substantive differences in the measures each country would need to take to achieve full membership...?This approach would acknowledge the concerns of those CPTPP members who seek to avoid excluding China but who have accepted that potential members must fully meet the conditions and obligations of entry.

— Hugh Stephens & Jeff Kucharski, Advisor, Institute for Peace & Diplomacy & Adjunct Professor, Royal Roads University

[Ottawa is]?playing fast and loose with the term national security to include not just weapons manufacturing but also economic interests. If we are going to put restrictions on international collaboration and on open science, they have to be very specific. They have to be relatively rare and have to be based on fact not conjecture... Canadians benefit enormously from having international scientists involved in our research. I don’t think it’s in our national interest to choke off those international collaborations.

— David Robinson, Executive Director,?Canadian Association of University Teachers

Thank you for reading?IPD's Canada-China Brief!

If you enjoy our work, please consider contributing:

DONATE HERE

IMAGE CREDIT: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER?|?BRICS?| FRAN?OIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE