Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide you with another update this week, this time, on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
I am Brigadier-General Éric Laforest, Director General of Operations, with the Strategic Joint Staff at Defence Headquarters here in Ottawa. My role is to provide decision-making support to the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Eyre, with respect to military strategy, operational planning, and operations of the Canadian Forces.
My Global Affairs colleagues have already discussed the geopolitical strategic context. I wish to also add that, from a defence perspective, we are deeply concerned by China's increasingly assertive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific.
In recent years, China has transformed its military into a modern force with an ever-expanding regional reach in the Indo-Pacific. As its capabilities have grown, China is increasingly turning to the military to support its national objectives. Following the recent U.S. congressional visit to Taiwan, China staged a range of military exercises around the island, including ballistic missiles fired over the island for the first time, as part of a coercive messaging campaign to signal Beijing's extreme displeasure over the visit.