Canada won’t decouple from China – too dependent now

Washington recognizes that many of its allies and partners have complex relationships with China, including partnerships with Chinese academic and research institutions that foster joint research and academic exchange of researchers, professionals, and students. Moreover, increasingly within recent years, many Canadian and American universities and research institutions have faced new challenges and risks associated with any partnership with connections to China following heightened media attention and security from the public, politicians, faculty, and alumni.

To assess the risks towards Canada’s national security, Ottawa released its to assist institutions in safeguarding research and intellectual property against foreign interference, espionage and theft. Likewise, the White House’s National Science and Technology Council released  in January 2022, with the same objectives to establish rules for ensuring research security and researcher responsibilities, noting that some foreign governments, such as China, are actively trying to illicitly acquire U.S. research and technologies. As Canada and the United States navigate this terrain, there is an opportunity for both countries to align their guidelines to maintain an open environment that fosters international research collaboration while protecting research security and competitiveness.  

Since 2020, there has been increased sensitivity and vigilance by governments and research institutions in Canada on international espionage and foreign interference targeting research, data, and technologies from research partnerships. In May 2021, the  with individuals or organizations with links to the Chinese government. Like many countries with research collaborations linked to China, Canadian research institutions are in the midst of re-adjusting and re-orientating their partnerships with China in sensitive areas connected to national security within the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

For Canada, it is unlikely that large-scale economic decoupling will occur with China with recognition that there are benefits in collaborating with Chinese researchers and institutions. Rather moving forward, research collaborations with China will likely be of minimal to low risk in nature in areas such a heath and the environment, posing no significant implications for Canadian national security. Although Ottawa released its national security guidelines, greater clarity is needed for Canadian universities and research institutions on how they can best navigate international research partnerships that have become intertwined with national security and economic competitiveness concerns. The administrative burden has to be shared by government and the research community.

As Canadian research institutions begin to reduce their partnerships with China in sensitive fields with potential military usage, there is an opportunity for Canada and the United States to deepen cross-border cooperation in those fields given shared national security and defense commitments. However, the research partnership guidelines released by Ottawa and Washington also recognize that there are merits its research collaborations with international partners including China. As such, Canadian and American research institutions and researchers could coordinate with each other in partnering Chinese researchers and institutions to advance transnational research and development in fields of common interest, and uphold values based on transparency, integrity and reciprocity.