Canada-China Military Training Cancelled After US Raised Security Concerns, Documents Show
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Foreign affairs urges defence department not to limit military engagements with China
Canada’s defence department canceled winter survival training with observers from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) after security concerns were raised by the United States, Canadian government documents show.
The documents (pdf), obtained by Rebel News under an Access to Information Act request, show the Department of National Defence relaying that the U.S. military was concerned about China’s participation in the exercises, saying it could lead to “undesired knowledge transfer” from Canada to the PLA.
Canada’s military had sent observers to China during the PLA’s winter survival training in February 2018, and had invited PLA representatives to observe Canada’s training at the Petawawa military base in Ontario at a future date.
#FactFriday – The #Army deployed a team of four observers from the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre to China. The Chinese PLA accepted a reciprocal invitation from the CA to observe winter survival training in Petawawa. #StrongSecureEngaged #StrongProudReady pic.twitter.com/eARdeIXggz
— Canadian Army (@CanadianArmy) February 9, 2018
Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Dec. 1, 2018, on an extradition request from the United States led to China taking a hostile stance against Canada in pursuit of her release. China followed its threat of dire consequences should Canada fail to release Meng by detaining Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on Dec. 10, 2018.
A January 2019 email by a defence department official says the concern about the winter survival training may have come up on the sidelines of a Five Eyes intelligence alliance meeting in the fall of 2018, but added that it was only the United States that was raising security concerns about the engagements. It said the department had no record of other Five Eyes members raising conce