There is considerable concern about China's resource exploitation—fishing resource exploitation and other potential natural resource exploitation—in international waters in the north.
As we know, these Arctic and Antarctic ecosystems are extremely fragile. If you disturb them.... We know what the consequences were when fish stocks collapsed in other parts of the country. If we have active overfishing or other resource exploitation that is not extremely carefully managed, it will have, for decades, adverse consequences on the ability of local communities to sustain their lifestyles and cultures.
This is why it is important for us to have surveillance and intervention capacities—if we believe outsiders are engaged in activity not commensurate with our interests or with international agreements or law—and the ability to enforce those. We can't always rely on our U.S. neighbour, because, as we know, their security resources are in very high demand these days. We need to make sure we have our own assets and the capability to assert our interests and the interests of our northern co-citizens.