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Hong Kong's South China Morning Post article on August 17, original title: Canada's "ridiculous" move in the South China Sea: challenging Beijing or undermining ASEAN? Canada is stepping into the South China Sea, joining forces with Australia to strengthen military and defense industry cooperation. The two countries claim to be concerned about China's claims in this important waterway, intending to curb Beijing's growing influence in the region through this move.

On August 8, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair claimed after talks with his Australian counterpart in Vancouver that China is trying to reshape the international system to promote its own interests, and that security in the Indo-Pacific region is facing "many major and difficult challenges." Blair said he would strengthen cooperation with Australia to maintain order in the region.

Some observers say Canada's interest may be "just symbolic" because Canada lacks significant military defense resources in the region. Canada's involvement also carries great risks for itself. About $5.5 trillion of global trade passes through important shipping lanes in the South China Sea each year, including a large number of Canadian commercial interests. Stephen Negy, a professor at Japan's International Christian University, said Canada is also concerned about the possible impact on its semiconductor supply chain because about 90% of the world's most advanced chips are manufactured in Taiwan, China.

Canada wants to counter China in the region, but its involvement could threaten ASEAN's centrality. The ASEAN Charter requires the group to maintain its own leadership while developing cooperative relations with external partners, rather than being swayed by great power competition.

Notably, Canada has stepped up its involvement, providing the Philippines with a dark ship detection system. Negi said Ottawa may soon expand this cooperation to other Southeast Asian countries. However, Malaysian foreign policy analyst Azmi Hassan said the presence of non-ASEAN countries makes it difficult for the group to "formulate a unified position" on the South China Sea issue. The problem, Azmi explained, is that ASEAN is fundamentally divided - some countries side with the United States, some support China, and some "don't seem to care much about it, they are not directly involved in the dispute."

Jeffrey Reeves, a senior fellow at the Canadian think tank Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, said Canada fundamentally lacks the ability to play a tougher role in the South China Sea. Reeves said that the Canadian Navy has only three warships in the entire Asia-Pacific region, "such a negligible force, almost meaningless", and in his view, the idea that Ottawa can influence the balance of power in the region is "ridiculous". In Reeves' view, Canada's participation in the South China Sea is "completely symbolic" - more to show that "it supports the strategic goals of its Western allies and partners, even if this support is very limited." (Author Maria Xiao, translated by Wang Dazhuang)▲