The workshop and its objectives

On 6 March 2018, the Academic Outreach (AO) program of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) hosted a workshop to examine the repercussions, on a global level and for Canada, of China’s continued rise as an influential global actor.

Held under the Chatham House rule, the workshop was designed around the knowledge and experience of a multi-disciplinary group of experts from North America, Asia and Europe. The presentations and plenary discussions allowed attendees to explore the direction in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is taking the country, the broad range of strategic means Beijing is taking to promote its interests, and the related security consequences. The papers presented at the event form the basis of this report. The entirety of this report reflects the views of those independent experts, not those of CSIS.

The AO program at CSIS, established in 2008, aims to promote a dialogue between intelligence practitioners and leading specialists from a wide variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds working in universities, think-tanks, business and other research institutions in Canada and abroad. It may be that some of our interlocutors hold ideas or promote findings that conflict with the views and analysis of the Service, but it is for this specific reason that there is value to engage in this kind of conversation.