Managing the Canada-China Political Relationship in an Indo-Pacific Era

This paper outlines the risk and opportunity for managing an increasingly complex Canada-China bilateral relationship. As we argue, competitive pluralism and divergent political agency has led to increased tension and confusion on how Canada can build effective tactics for strengthening its relationship with China. To show this, we draw on the concept of social constructivism as a substantive theory for explaining how the current diplomatic crisis unfolded while calling for new and creative approaches for navigating the political relationship through socio-economic connections. We further contend that it is in Canada's national interest for all levels of government and business actors to develop long-term strategies for working with the world's second largest economy. Embracing political and economic pragmatism serves both Canada's vital interests and values while offering a window on how to live with authoritarian China. We conclude with several policy recommendations for working with China through Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy framework.