Canada-China Relations committee  The purely value-based approach can be problematic. Of course, we will firmly defend Canadian values, including freedom of speech and respect of all human rights, but in the reality of working with many other countries, if that's the only topic we focus on, and then we open the conversation by pointing fingers and saying, “We are a democracy; you're not a democracy,” there seems to be no common ground or space where we can actually have a conversation or have engagement to tackle some of the global issues, including climate change, public health, nuclear non-proliferation and even biodiversity.

Canada-China Relations committee  Good evening. Thank you to the committee for this opportunity to appear before you for this important discussion on Canada's Indo-Pacific strategy. Several esteemed colleagues have already spoken before me. It's a tough act to follow, but I'll try my best to share my observations.

Canada-China Relations committee  IPS is an ambitious strategy with a broad spectrum of objectives, from trade and investment to sustainable development to people-to-people connections to peace and security. Much work and many resources have been put forth to implement this strategy and promote it in the region.