This paper sets out three challenges to the creation of a future for Indo-Pacific states and peoples consistent with the visions of a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ (FOIP) expressed by Japan, India, the US and Australia, and now by the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

Economic co-operation is the main pillar of India-China relations. According to the liberal school of thought, industrialised countries prefer economic development and foreign trade as a means of achieving prominence and prosperity.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is building links between China’s civilian universities, military and security agencies. Those efforts, carried out under a policy of leveraging the civilian sector to maximise military power (known as ‘military–civil fusion’), have accelerated in the past decade, according to the research behind this report.

This paper examines China’s foreign policy toward Southeast Asia in the context of its neighborhood diplomacy more broadly. The paper also discusses China’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and individual Southeast Asian countries, focusing on Indonesia and Vietnam.

With Canada facing issues similar to what are currently occurring in Australia, this discussion piece argues for a new China strategy that stands up for Canada’s national integrity.