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. As we work with those partners, we can create a more robust, institutionalized and rules-based region that can potentially shape Chinese behaviour over the long term.
If Canada is not part of that.... We use the expression, “if it's not at the table in creating the regional rules and supporting the regional rules, it's on the menu.” This is a very critical part of how we engage with China: by creating and shaping the Indo-Pacific region along with like-minded countries that have significant resources to complement Canadian resources.