Statement on China’s decision to undertake large-scale military drills around Taiwan

Press Release

January 1, 2026 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement:

“Canada opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

“The Taiwan Strait is indispensable to the security and prosperity of the international community. It is in the interest of all parties to maintain the peaceful and accessible nature of this waterway.”

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Noah Note: Well that's a small statement. A bit direct and to the point, I know somewhere Dominic Cardy is shaking his head. Canada has remains on a slow but steady pace of cooperation with Taiwan, or the Republic of China if that's your flair.

Canada has performed naval transits of the Taiwans straits on a yearly basis with the United States since 2021. The last year has also seen an increasing level of support and partnership with Taiwan, first in the signing of a new Technology Cooperation agreement last year and an MOU to expand the highly successful Dark Vessel Detection program to Taiwan in August.

I am fiercely supportive of leveraging successful assets and programs to help our allies, especially those at the forefront of challenges like Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing in the Indo-Pacific, assert their sovereignty and help protect key points of their National Security.

That includes things like human and food security, both of which are increasingly threatened by things like IUU Fishing and State-Sponsored Dark fleets, prinarily those coming from China, being used as a guise to assert control over disputed territories.

I despise this kind of destructive, shallow, selfish behaviour and am firm in my beliefs that it needs to be challenged at all angles. While Canada at present can only do so much outside the diplomatic purview to tackle such challenges internationally, the few assets we do have available have proven to be successful and supportive.

The Dark Vessel Detection program is one of those Initatives I love to highlight in these discussions. Since 2021 the Dark Vessel Detection program has helped allies like the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Ecuador, and the Phillipines access critical satellite technologies needed for the detection and tracking of such dark vessels and fleets.

Support to the Phillipines especially has proven massively successful in tackling Chinese encroachment on Filipino territory This has also been in conjunction with the tireless work of PAL Aerospace and Fisheries and Oceans Canada's in supporting the Philippines in tracking Illegal fishing with the use of the comoanied fleet of Dash 8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft.

This is the prime example I love to use in showcasing how often forgotten Canadian assets and capabilities can go a long way in supporting smaller, less fortunate allies who might not be able to afford or support the coaabilities needed to tackle these sort of issues.

This will only get better as MDAs Chorus constellation comes into service, to which Canada has already signed a contract to leverage the new constellation to continue supporting the program.

I am getting a bit off topic. This is about Taiwan. I hope that 2026 brings deeper security cooperation. I also hope that we hear good news of Taiwanese use of Canadian technologies to help support their sovereignty.

Things are still new, we're still at a very infant stage of the relationship in my books, where cooperation remains steadily growing but still limited. I understand that there will always be hesitstion here. Im not so arrogant as to not see that. I like to believe we would put values first, however that doesnt always happen.

So I sit and cheer on the good news that does come, and hope for a better future, one where I can look back and reflect on how news like above was just the beginning of a blossoming, deep relationship.

Until then!