Dr. Bryan Brulotte is Chairman of Sterling-Trust, a Canadian private equity firm. He holds a doctorate in business and brings more than four decades of leadership experience spanning the military, private, and public sectors. He recently joined the NATO Association of Canada as Vice Chairman.China is preparing for a different kind of war. Canada is still preparing for yesterday's. The defining geopolitical struggle of the twenty-first century will not be fought solely with tanks, warships, or fighter aircraft. Increasingly, it will be contested through factories, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, supply chains, advanced manufacturing, and technological innovation. Beijing understands this. Most Western governments, including our own, are only beginning to catch up.For nearly four decades, the West viewed China primarily through an economic lens. Cheap manufacturing, expanding trade, and access to a market of 1.4 billion people promised unprecedented prosperity. Successive governments assumed that economic integration would gradually encourage political liberalization and make China a more predictable international partner. Instead, engagement helped finance one of the most ambitious national modernization projects in modern history. China did not simply become wealthier. It became stronger, more technologically sophisticated, and more strategically focused.Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly spoken of the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" by 2049, the centenary of the People's Republic of China. That vision extends far beyond economic growth. It encompasses technological leadership, industrial dominance, military modernization, and greater global influence. Unlike most Western democracies, where economic, industrial, and defence policies are often developed independently, Beijing pursues them as components of a single national strategy designed to enhance China's comprehensive national power.The numbers tell the story. China now produces roughly one-third of the world's manufacturing output, more than the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and India combined. It manufactures more than half of the world's steel, dominates global shipbuilding, refines approximately 90% of the world's rare earth elements, and leads global production of batteries, solar panels, and many of the critical minerals required for advanced technologies. Manufacturing accounts for approximately 27% of China's economy. In Canada, it represents roughly 10% of GDP. These are not simply economic statistics. They are measures of national power..History demonstrates that great powers are built first in factories, not on battlefields. Britain became the dominant power of the nineteenth century because it was the world's industrial workshop. The United States emerged from the Second World War as the leading global power because it could outproduce every adversary. China has absorbed that lesson. Its policy of Military-Civil Fusion deliberately integrates universities, private industry, and civilian research into national defence, ensuring that technological innovation strengthens both economic competitiveness and military capability.The results are increasingly visible. China possesses the world's largest navy by number of battle force ships and continues to expand it rapidly. American defence analysts estimate that China's shipbuilding capacity exceeds that of the United States by more than 200 to one. China also graduates millions of university students annually in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while investing heavily in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. These investments are not isolated initiatives. They are components of a coherent long-term strategy to increase China's national strength.Modern conflict extends far beyond military competition. Trade, finance, technology, cyber operations, intelligence, and diplomacy have become instruments of national power. Australia experienced this after calling for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, when Beijing imposed restrictions on Australian wine, barley, beef, and coal. Lithuania faced economic retaliation after strengthening ties with Taiwan. Canada has experienced restrictions on canola exports, the detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and persistent allegations of Chinese foreign interference in our democratic institutions. Each episode illustrates the same reality: economic leverage is increasingly used alongside diplomacy and military power to achieve strategic objectives.Canada's response has largely been reactive. We address trade disputes, foreign interference, investment reviews, and defence policy as separate issues rather than recognizing them as parts of a much larger strategic challenge. We still lack a coherent, long-term China strategy that survives changes in government and provides consistent direction to businesses, investors, and our allies. In a world increasingly shaped by strategic competition, reacting to individual crises is no substitute for pursuing a national strategy..That strategy should begin with a simple recognition: economic strength and national security have become inseparable. Canada should diversify supply chains for critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment, and advanced technologies. Investment screening should be strengthened to protect strategic infrastructure and sensitive technologies. We should deepen economic and security partnerships throughout the Indo-Pacific with countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India while continuing to reinforce our commitments to NATO and NORAD. At the same time, rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces remains essential because credible military capability ultimately protects national sovereignty.Equally important, Canada needs a modern industrial strategy. We possess abundant critical minerals, affordable hydroelectricity, world-class universities, a highly educated workforce, and privileged access to North American and European markets. What we have lacked is strategic focus. Ottawa should identify a limited number of industries that are fundamental to Canada's long-term prosperity and security, including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, advanced manufacturing, shipbuilding, aerospace, cybersecurity, critical minerals processing, and defence production. The government's role is not to select corporate winners but to create the conditions that encourage long-term private investment through competitive taxation, efficient regulation, modern infrastructure, and support for research commercialization. Industrial policy is no longer simply economic policy. It has become national security policy.None of this should be interpreted as hostility toward the Chinese people or opposition to legitimate trade. China is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations and millions of talented entrepreneurs, scientists, and students who contribute enormously to global prosperity. Our challenge is not with the Chinese people. It is with the increasingly assertive policies of the Chinese Communist Party and its strategic integration of economic, technological, diplomatic, and military power to advance China's national ambitions. Strategic realism is neither fear nor confrontation. It is simply recognizing the world as it is.The defining geopolitical contest of the twenty-first century will not be won solely by the country with the largest military or the loudest rhetoric. It will be won by the nation that best integrates innovation, industry, education, energy, finance, and national purpose into a coherent strategy. China understands this. The United States is rapidly rediscovering it. Canada has yet to decide whether it wishes to compete. History will not judge whether we recognized China's rise. That much is already evident. History will judge whether we recognized what that rise required of us. China has a strategy for the twenty-first century. It is time Canada developed one of its own.Dr. Bryan Brulotte is Chairman of Sterling-Trust, a Canadian private equity firm. He holds a doctorate in business and brings more than four decades of leadership experience spanning the military, private, and public sectors. He recently joined the NATO Association of Canada as Vice Chairman.
