Thank you for the question.
As the minister mentioned, if we were to look back to 30 years ago, we would see that there were prospects and opportunities in China as well as optimism that might have led us to believe China might join the global economic system and eventually move towards democracy. Not only that, but at the time, China's aggression towards its neighbours was perhaps somewhat different.
When Xi Jinping took over as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party at the end of 2012, it was a turning point. It's clear to us now that things have changed since 2013. At my last appearance here, I mentioned certain events, including the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the South China Sea Arbitration. Knowing what the decision would be, China totally rejected the authority of international law and decreed that it was a matter of its own interest and that it was going to decide what would happen.
We raised several points in recent years. Like many of its allies, countries like Canada rely on international law and international business standards to protect their prosperity and security. Unfortunately, under Xi Jinping, we saw the Chinese regime move in a direction that ran counter to our interests.