Canada and Japan aiming to rapidly expand defense ties – “We believe that, if there are disagreements, either in the South China Sea or in the Taiwan Strait, rule of law must prevail“ says Defense Minister Bill Blair

>*As negotiations on a Japan-Canada intelligence-sharing pact progress, the strategic partners are also examining other ways to ramp up defense and security cooperation, including in the fields of space, cybersecurity, industry and special forces operations, Canada’s defense minister said Friday.*

>*“I think there are unlimited areas of cooperation between Canada and Japan,” Defense Minister Bill Blair said in Tokyo.*

>*Blair, who is the first Canadian defense minister to visit Japan in five years, emphasized that working together with a “priority partner” like Tokyo can “only make us stronger amid shared concerns about the volatile international security environment.”*

>*…*

>*Blair, who met with Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and top Japanese military commanders while in Tokyo, had come to Japan after visiting South Korea, where he attended the Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit.*

>*Blair noted that the two-day gathering, which was aimed at finding ways to internationally regulate the military use of artificial intelligence, showed how Japan and Canada can work more closely together on this and other emerging technologies to counter what they see as growing challenges to the current world order.*

>*“The world is becoming a more dangerous place,” Blair said.*

>*“We have witnessed authoritarian regimes become stronger and bolder and showing their willingness to work collaboratively together,” he noted, pointing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons programs and what he termed “China’s efforts to rewrite the rules-based international order that we have all relied upon to keep the world safe.”*

>*Canada has been playing a key role in countering these efforts, with the country being one the few to have openly challenged Beijing’s position in the Taiwan Strait by having its navy sail through these contentious waters several times, drawing China’s ire.*

>*“Canada has long maintained a ‘One-China Policy’ and it is not our intent to interfere with domestic relationships, but at the same time the freedom of navigation is an absolutely critical principle … and we are seeing that some nations are challenging the rules based order,” he said.*

>*“We believe that, if there are disagreements, either in the South China Sea or in the Taiwan Strait, rule of law must prevail, “ Blair emphasized, stressing that the appropriate way to resolve differences of opinion in the region is “not through force and confrontation but through dialogue and adherence to laws.”*

>*While advocating dialogue and cooperation with Beijing, Blair also made it clear that the Canadian Navy will continue transiting through the Taiwan Strait to “demonstrate to those that challenge the rules-based order that like-minded allies are prepared to stand united, and together stand up for those rules.”*

>*Blair’s Tokyo visit comes after the Canadian government announced in April that it is on track to spend tens of billions more on defense over the coming years to deal with challenges such as climate change, the intensifying geopolitical rivalries and what it views as sovereignty risks in the high Arctic.*

Haha China, that’s what you get for bullying Canada for ages!

Do we even have an army? Maybe we should actually give the army some money and buy some equipment.