Was Ottawa Ever Going to Tell Canadians About Its Secretive China Military Talks?

 

Canada has reopened formal military talks with China—the country Mark Carney called Canada’s greatest security threat.

The meeting took place in Canada on September 4, 2026.

But Ottawa did not announce it. Beijing did.

China’s Ministry of National Defence reported that the fifth Canada–China Defence Coordination Dialogue had been held after an eight-year interruption.

Beijing said the two countries expressed a willingness to:

“Strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation between the two militaries.”

That sounds like more than an emergency telephone line. Yet Ottawa issued no news release, no public meeting summary and no explanation of what “practical cooperation” might include.

China Told Canadians What Ottawa Did Not

Sam Cooper of The Bureau discovered Beijing’s announcement and brought the story to Canadian attention. Global News followed and obtained a limited response from a Canadian government spokesperson.

The government said the meeting supported military-to-military communications at the “functional level” and that Canadian engagement with China would be governed by “guardrails.”

What guardrails?

Who attended the meeting? Who authorized it? What was discussed? Were further military visits, exchanges or training considered? Were Canada’s Five Eyes partners consulted?

Ottawa has not provided those answers.

Carney Called China Our Greatest Threat

During the 2025 federal election campaign, Carney was asked to identify Canada’s greatest security threat.

His answer was direct:

“I think the biggest security threat to Canada is China.”

He later pointed to Chinese foreign interference, Beijing’s support for Russia, pressure on Taiwan and China’s growing interest in the Arctic.

How did Canada move from that warning to quietly reopening a formal defence relationship with the People’s Liberation Army?

Talking with a potential adversary is not automatically wrong. Military communication can help prevent an accident or misunderstanding from becoming a confrontation.

But this was the revival of a formal defence mechanism that had been inactive since 2018. China’s description included strengthening “exchanges and cooperation”—not merely keeping an emergency telephone available.

Would Canadians Ever Have Been Told?

Had China’s defence ministry not published its announcement, Canadians might never have learned about the meeting—or might have discovered it months or years later through parliamentary questions or access-to-information requests.

We cannot prove that Ottawa intended to conceal the meeting permanently.

But we can ask why Beijing believed it deserved public disclosure while Ottawa apparently did not.

The government should immediately disclose:

• Who represented Canada and China;
• Who authorized the meeting;
• What subjects were discussed;
• What the promised “guardrails” actually are;
• Whether military visits, exchanges or training are being considered;
• Whether Five Eyes partners were consulted; and
• Whether additional Canada–China military meetings are planned.

Perhaps Carney has a reasonable explanation for talking with the country he identified as Canada’s greatest security threat.

But Canadians should not have to rely on Beijing to discover changes in their own country’s military relationships.

Was Ottawa ever going to tell us?