Has China’s release of ‘two Michaels’ allowed Canada to be latest US ally to formulate Indo-Pacific strategy?

Canadian warship in Taiwan Strait recently with American vessel indicates Ottawa uniting with Washington to counter Beijing’s growing influence

However, Justin Trudeau’s government has still not publicly put forward a game plan; is it doing its bit to defend rules-based international order?

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Canadian Michael Kovrig, one of the ‘two Michaels’ detained by China for almost three years, kisses the ground after arriving back home in September. Photo: Adam Scotti

Published: 10:30pm, 1 Nov 2021Updated: 12:00am, 2 Nov 2021

Last month, Canada sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait alongside the US for the very first time, amid an increase in Chinese military exercises in the self-ruled island’s air defence identification zone.

The appearance of the Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg in waterways that are increasingly the staging ground for competition between major powers is one of several indications that just weeks after the release of two Canadians held by China – the ‘two Michaels’ – Ottawa is ready to join a group of US allies seeking to counter Beijing’s influence in a region between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

From Europe to Britain to Japan, US allies have strengthened military linkages with several offering support for Taiwan in its tensions with Beijing.

In September the US, Britain and Australia launched the Aukus deal that will allow Canberra to build long-range nuclear-powered submarines. European countries and the EU have also launched their own plan to better engage with the Indo-Pacific region, using a preferred American term for the Asia-Pacific.

Jonathan Berkshire Miller, director and senior fellow on Indo-Pacific at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa-based think tank, said Canada “has been late to the game when it comes to the Indo-Pacific and developing a strategic approach”.

“We shouldn’t look at security challenges in the region as peripheral to Canadian interests. The reality is that Canada has important stakes in a stable region governed by rules and norms,” Miller said.

A bomber takes off during a Chinese military drill in the East China Sea in August. Photo: Handout

However, Yan Liang, professor of economics at Willamette University in Oregon said the sending of the Canadian warship to the region was “pointless and counterproductive” as Canada has no strategic interest in Taiwan.

Has China’s release of ‘two Michaels’ allowed Canada to be latest US ally to formulate Indo-Pacific strategy?

Canadian warship in Taiwan Strait recently with American vessel indicates Ottawa uniting with Washington to counter Beijing’s growing influence However, Justin Trudeau’s government has still not publicly put forward a game plan; is it doing its bit to defend rules-based international order?

Canadian warship in Taiwan Strait recently with American vessel indicates Ottawa uniting with Washington to counter Beijing’s growing influence

However, Justin Trudeau’s government has still not publicly put forward a game plan; is it doing its bit to defend rules-based international order?