By David Ljunggren and Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA, Nov 27 (Reuters) – Canada released its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, planning to spend C$2.3 billion (US$1.7 billion) to strengthen military security and cybersecurity in the region. region.

Moreover, he promises to confront a “disruptive” China, while working with it on issues related to climate change and trade.

The plan, detailed in a 26-page document, says Canada will tighten rules on foreign investment to protect intellectual property and prevent Chinese state-owned companies from grabbing critical mineral supplies.

Canada is seeking to strengthen its ties with a rapidly growing Indo-Pacific region, made up of 40 countries representing nearly C$50 trillion in economic activity. But the focus is on China, cited more than 50 times, at a time when bilateral relations are frozen.

At a news conference in Vancouver, four cabinet ministers took turns detailing the new plan, saying the strategy was crucial to Canada’s national security and climate, as well as its economic goals.

“We are going to engage in diplomacy because we believe diplomacy is strength, at the same time we will be firm and that is why we now have a very transparent plan to engage with China,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs said. Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government wants to diversify trade and economic ties that largely depend on the United States. Official data from September shows bilateral trade with China was less than 7% of the total, compared to 68% for the United States.

Canada’s rapprochement with its Asian allies also comes at a time when Washington has shown signs of growing distrust of free trade in recent years.

(1 dollar = 1.3377 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Denny Thomas, Leslie Adler, Daniel Wallis and Mark Porter, Editing in Spanish by Juana Casas)