Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good evening to our witnesses, I’m very pleased to have you here. Thank you for contributing to our consideration of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. I have some questions, which I invite either of you to answer.
In the Strategy, Canada asserts that it will continue to defend universal human rights, mentioning Uyghurs, Tibetans and other religious and ethnic minorities, though without saying how it will go about defending the rights of Uyghurs, Tibetans and other religious minorities. Presumably, the specific reference is to China.
The Strategy also raises the possibility of opening a dialogue with states that do not share our values. Do you see this as a contradiction between a firmer, more aggressive policy towards China and a more permissive one towards other countries in the region that might also be ambivalent about our values?