Canada's membership in alliances like Five Eyes and NATO constrains and guides its China strategy by pushing it toward a more security-conscious and aligned approach with its key partners.

These alliances provide Canada with critical intelligence, diplomatic support, and a collective framework for responding to China's geopolitical challenges.

They move Canada away from a purely trade-focused relationship with China and toward a more coordinated, values-based policy.

Five Eyes: A Constraint of Shared Intelligence 

The Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes Canada, the U.S., the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, is a major constraint on Canada's China policy. The alliance’s primary purpose is to share intelligence, and the consensus among its members is that China's actions pose a significant threat.

• Shared Threat Perception: The constant exchange of intelligence on Chinese activities—including cyber espionage, intellectual property theft, foreign interference in democratic processes, and military modernization—builds a shared understanding of the threat. This prevents Canada from adopting a more naive or lenient approach to China. It's difficult for Canadian policymakers to argue for a purely economic-first strategy when they are consistently presented with classified intelligence from their closest allies about the risks involved.

• Coordination and Alignment: The Five Eyes alliance also facilitates policy coordination. When one member, such as Australia or the U.S., faces economic coercion from China, the others are often briefed and can adjust their own policies accordingly. This allows for a more unified response. For example, during the Meng Wanzhou affair, the solidarity of the Five Eyes countries helped Canada navigate the diplomatic crisis.

• Technology and Security: The alliance constrains Canada's decisions on critical infrastructure. The U.S., UK, and Australia's decisions to ban or restrict Huawei from their 5G networks, based on shared intelligence, put significant pressure on Canada to do the same. Canada's eventual decision to ban Huawei's equipment was in part an acknowledgment that it needed to align its policy with its intelligence-sharing partners to maintain the integrity and security of the alliance's communications.

NATO: A Guide for Collective Security 

While geographically focused on the North Atlantic, NATO's role has expanded to address China's growing global influence. NATO guides Canada's China strategy by framing Beijing's actions as a systemic challenge to the rules-based international order.

• Broadening the Threat: NATO has, for the first time, explicitly identified China in its strategic concept. It has warned that China's "coercive policies and stated ambitions challenge our interests, security, and values." This shift provides a broader, more robust framework for Canada to address China. It helps Canada connect the dots between China's actions in the Indo-Pacific and its impact on European security, for example, through its deepening partnership with Russia.

• Collective Deterrence: NATO membership guides Canada's defense policy by emphasizing the need for interoperability and shared capabilities. While Canada's military presence in the Indo-Pacific is limited, NATO encourages Canada to increase its contributions to exercises and naval deployments in the region to project a unified front and deter Chinese aggression. This means Canada's actions are not just its own; they are part of a broader collective effort.

• Economic Security: NATO's discussions on energy security and critical infrastructure, particularly in light of the war in Ukraine, have highlighted the dangers of dependency on a single authoritarian supplier. This has reinforced Canada's own efforts to reduce its reliance on Chinese markets and investments in critical sectors like rare-earth minerals and technology. NATO's focus on collective resilience provides a policy blueprint for Canada to follow.

The Balancing Act: Autonomy vs. Alliance 

Despite the guidance and constraints provided by these alliances, Canada still seeks to maintain a degree of autonomy in its China policy.

• Independent Interests: Canada has its own unique economic and political interests in China. Canadian businesses rely on the Chinese market for exports, and Canada's foreign policy has a history of pursuing multilateralism and de-escalation. This can sometimes put Canada at odds with more confrontational U.S. or Australian policies. However, the Meng Wanzhou affair demonstrated the limits of this autonomy.

• The New Indo-Pacific Strategy: Canada's recently released Indo-Pacific Strategy, which labels China as a "disruptive global power," reflects the influence of its allies. The strategy is built on the principles of coexist, compete, and challenge, which aligns Canada's approach more closely with the strategic frameworks of the U.S. and its other partners. This move signals that Canada has concluded that its national interests are best served by a coordinated, alliance-based approach.