Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much, Chair. Yes, they do not have snowplows in Tokyo; they use water to blow away the snow. Thank you very much for the opportunity to share these points and speak on peace and security in Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy. I'd like to frame my comments in three particular areas.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Cormier, you're very right. The hundreds of thousands of jobs that Canadians enjoy in automobile industries are directly related to the semiconductor chips that are based in Taiwan and built by Taiwan. It means that moving forward, it will be critical for Canada to work with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States and perhaps Germany and other countries with these capabilities, to selectively diversify some of these supply chains to like-minded countries, and safe countries, quite frankly.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mademoiselle Joly was in Tokyo two weeks ago. We hosted her here at the Canadian embassy, and we had an excellent discussion. The Canadians and the Japanese put forward a six-point action plan for co-operation within the region. It focused on environmental co-operation, strengthening maritime domain awareness and supporting a rules-based structure.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think the UN is a compromised institution. Again, I think we should be working with like-minded countries, and I don't think we need to solely focus on the defence area of co-operation. We could work on enlarging the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership so that we can shape the rules of the region that will potentially shape Chinese behaviour.

Canada-China Relations committee  I agree fully with Mr. Neve that human rights should be a critical part of how we engage in our trading relationships, including our trading relationship with China. However, I do think that we need to think broadly in terms of the broader region and the partners that we need to build within the region.

Canada-China Relations committee  No. Again, I will reiterate that I think it's really important that we co-operate with our closest ally, the United States. We also need to be conscious how the degree of co-operation we engage in may open us up to being used as leverage in the U.S.-China competition. This happened with the arrest of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Canada-China Relations committee  Yes, I said that.

Canada-China Relations committee  No, and I've written explicitly about this. I said that Canada should co-operate with the quadrilateral security dialogue in an ad hoc, functional way, not as a membership in the quad but in finding ways to co-operate in maritime security. If you follow the developments of the quad, they're talking about technological co-operation, infrastructure and connectivity co-operation.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much for the question. In terms of sub-Saharan Africa, I think the primary influence that China is deploying is anything related to aid and anything related to the belt and road initiative. That creates dependent relationships through the provision of infrastructure connectivity within the region.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much for the question. Again, we need to engage in a nuanced approach in working with the United States when it comes to how we engage with China. China understands that U.S. allies, such as Australia and even European countries, are much more vulnerable to Chinese coercion.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think it's critical for us to engage with China through an Indo-Pacific strategy. China is part of the region; it is not the region. As we engage in the region, we work with like-minded countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore, as well as countries that have different political systems, such as Vietnam.

Canada-China Relations committee  It's a country of 1.4 billon people. We have shared interests in dealing with environmental issues and in dealing with health issues. We have to find a way to work with China. It has considerable resources that can be used to deal with these challenges. I think that those are clear areas or cross-connections on which Canada can engage with China.

Canada-China Relations committee  I think it's critical for us to continue to ensure that we are an independent stakeholder with regard to our bilateral relationship with China and also our relationships within the Indo-Pacific. There is a danger that if we align too closely with the United States, particularly on a securitized approach to dealing with China, we will become another victim of U.S. policy.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much for the opportunity to share my views. Just to give you a bit of background, I'm based in Tokyo. I've lived in Tokyo and I see China relations and Canada-China relations from Tokyo, but I've also spent five years in Hong Kong as well. I'd like to start with a statement, and I think it's really important.