Threat from China prompts Canada to seek place in Aukus security partnership
Canada is holding talks with Britain, Australia and the United States about being part of an expanded Aukus security partnership amid China's expansion in the Asia Pacific region.
Defence Minister Bill Blair said Ottawa wanted to help counter Beijing's growing military influence in that part of the world.
Canada wants to join a second pillar of Aukus that will collaborate on new military technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, however no specific details have been released at the moment.
"There have been important discussions about processes and platforms on a project-specific basis on where other nations, including Japan and ourselves, might participate," Mr Blair said.
He was speaking in Tokyo where he met his Japanese counterpart, Minoru Kihara, as Japan is also considering joining the programme.
"I would respectfully wait until they've come to their determination, but I'm very optimistic," he said of the three founding members.
The initial phase of Aukus involves the three co-founders – Australia, the UK and the US – working on nuclear submarine technology for Australia.
Mr Blair, who was on his second trip to Japan as defence minister, arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, which is also in talks about a role in Aukus.
He said Canada's defence commitments were expanding at home and overseas, and so the government was expanding its military spending.
"Next year, my defence budget will rise by 27% over this year. And... in the next three or four years our defence spending will triple," he explained.
Mr Blair and Mr Kihara also discussed the Chinese interventions into Japanese territory that last month prompted Tokyo to lodge protests with Beijing.
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