CANADIANS IMPRESSED BY DOD REPORT ON CHINA, WANT

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 000381 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2018 TAGS: PARM PREL MARR MCAP TSPA CH CA SUBJECT: CANADIANS IMPRESSED BY DOD REPORT ON CHINA, WANT MORE REF: STATE 20659 Classified By: PolMinCouns Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. This is an action request -- see para three. 2.. (C) Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Defense and Security Relations Deputy Director Elizabeth Baldwin-Jones on March 11 expressed appreciation for the 2008 Department of Defense (DOD) Report on China (reftel),which appeared overall in sync in Canadian analyses of the Chinese military. She remarked that the authoritative report not only addresses China's military capabilities and intentions in a useful way, but it more importantly helps her office justify its calls to block militarily-sensitive exports to China on policy grounds. ¶3. (C) Separately, DFAIT China Desk Officer Olivier Bullion commented that the report had nonetheless prompted as many questions as it had answered. Bullion asked pol/mil officer to convey the following questions to Washington along with a request for feedback from "the China Hands:" -- is there a reason the report does not mention China's intention to develop bases and outposts in foreign countries, the so-called "String of Pearls Strategy?" -- as China replaces old weapons with newer ones, it could sell the older weapons to states like Burma. What is U.S. thinking on China's non-proliferation obligations? -- China's old guard are retiring and fewer national leaders are coming up through the ranks of the PLA. What is U.S. thinking regarding this change, and how it could influence party-PLA relations and political stability? Specifically, was the ASAT test a sign of a growing disconnect? Visit Canada,s Economy and Environment Forum at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/can ada BREESE