Canada and Philippines are in final negotiations for defense pact to boost joint military exercises

The Canadian ambassador says his country and the Philippines are in the final stages of negotiating a key defense pact that will allow their forces to hold larger military drills. Canada and the Philippines have both opposed China's increasing aggression in the disputed South China Sea. Ambassador David Hartman says Ottawa has rejected China’s “provocative and unlawful actions” in the strategic waterways. Canada has been reinforcing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific as the Philippines faces an increasingly assertive China that claims the South China Sea virtually in its entirety.