# Canada and China resume military dialogue after eight-year gap
*Event date: 2026-09-08*
Canada and China have resumed formal military-to-military talks after an eight-year interruption, reopening a channel intended to address defence issues and reduce misunderstandings between their armed forces.
The meeting took place through the Defence Coordination Dialogue, according to a report citing China's defence ministry. The ministry described the discussion as candid and detailed, with the two sides exchanging views on international and regional matters of shared concern. It said both delegations expressed an interest in practical cooperation and in improving mutual understanding and trust.
The dialogue was the fifth conducted through the mechanism since it was established in 2013 and the first since April 2018. Its return is therefore a concrete, if limited, sign that Ottawa and Beijing are rebuilding official contacts after years of strained relations. A reopened channel does not itself indicate agreement on security policy, but it gives military officials a dedicated forum in which to communicate.
Senior defence contacts had not disappeared completely during the pause. Canada's then-defence minister Bill Blair met Chinese defence minister Dong Jun on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in 2024. The new session differs because it restores the bilateral coordination format rather than relying on an encounter alongside a wider international gathering.
The military talks form part of a broader effort by Canada and China to stabilize their relationship. The two governments have resumed high-level exchanges and expanded direct air links. They have also been working through commercial disputes involving agriculture and electric vehicles, areas where policy disagreements have affected businesses and trade flows in both countries.
In July, Li Yao, the defence attaché at the Chinese embassy in Canada, argued that improving political relations had created better conditions for contacts between the armed forces. The September dialogue puts that stated intention into practice, although the evidence released publicly offers few details about specific defence initiatives or any commitments reached.
The timing also places the talks against Canada's increasingly complicated relationship with the United States. The source report linked Ottawa's outreach to Beijing with friction involving Washington. That context may help explain Canada's wider diplomatic activity, but neither the reported meeting nor the Chinese ministry's statement establishes that the military dialogue represents a strategic realignment.
For now, the development is best measured by the restoration of an institutional channel. Regular defence communication can provide a place to clarify positions and manage incidents even when governments continue to disagree. Whether the renewed format produces sustained exchanges or practical cooperation will depend on subsequent meetings and on the wider political relationship between Ottawa and Beijing.
