As China’s President Xi Jinping is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, a retired Canadian vice admiral has warned that China is trying to establish a new global order.
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Vice Admiral Mark Norman said on Saturday’s Roy Green Show that there was a “rapid and worrying” increase in China’s attempts to “undermine the global system in which Canada has happily operated for the past 80+ years.”
He said there are clear efforts, “the global order in terms of economy, global supply chain, financing systems, our rules-based system that we often refer to, our understanding of physical sovereignty in terms of … the South China Sea and Taiwan.”
“It’s just an ongoing list and they’re very strategic about it,” he said. “You’re playing a long game.”
What Canada is currently responding to are just “symptoms” of a “much deeper and troubling set of strategies China has pursued and implemented for decades to reset the system in its preferred order of things.”
His comments come as Xi is due to meet Putin Monday through Wednesday in what appears to be a show of support. China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and last year said it has a “boundless” friendship with Russia.
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Canada banned from AUKUS is ‘worrying’
As world geopolitical forces shift, Norman also pointed to Canada’s exclusion from the US-Australia-UK AUKUS deal, which he says is “concerning” for our national security.
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“There are other countries that aren’t as close to the United States, physically or geographically, and they’re much more connected now,” he said.
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Norman is disappointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dismissive attitude towards Canada’s exclusion from the pact that will result in the US selling nuclear submarines to Australia. He said the deal isn’t just about submarines, it goes “much deeper than that.”
“What’s really at play is collaborating in high-level discussions about very important technologies like quantum, biometrics and acoustics,” he said.
“There is a whole range of technologies that will be discussed, shared and collaborated on as part of this agreement. This is a key development in international security and defense and we are absent. I think it should concern us why we are absent. I think it will further degrade our reputation and our ability to influence others as we move forward.”
Norman says our exclusion is a direct result of Canada “not being perceived as credible in the way we act and behave.”
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