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The mission of the CIC is to promote an understanding of international affairs and Canada’s role in a changing world by providing Canadians with a non-partisan, nationwide forum for informed discussion, analysis and debate. Accordingly, the cornerstone of the CIC’s work is our events program. The CIC national office and our branches hold more than 150 events per year in cities across the country. In particular, our branch events give members an opportunity to directly engage with global issues that often intersect with local concerns. The CIC also supports events outside of Canada, often in partnership with other global think tanks, that can introduce Canadian perspectives to global audiences. CIC events take on many different forms, from academic lectures and panel discussions to town hall meetings and pub nights. Please consult our events calendar for a listing of CIC-organized and sponsored events.

If you have an idea for a CIC event, please contact us at info@thecic.org.

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CIC Victoria: China – what is the strategic smart play for Canada?

September 17, 2025 @ 11:30 am - 1:30 pm PDT

Mark your calenders and join us for this Union Club lunch event.  Registration details will be sent in mid-August.

When: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Where: The Union Club, 805 Gordon Street
Time: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm (registration desk opens at 11:30 am)
Our Speaker: Dr. Wenran Jiang

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Squeezed by US tariffs, our speaker will argue that Canada must chart a new course with China even as Beijing has applied recent retaliatory tariffs on, for example, our canola exports. Indeed, as Wenran will discuss, calls have been growing – even from provincial premiers – to further engage with Beijing economically and avoid a damaging two-front trade war with our two largest trading partners. However, against this complex backdrop, key questions arise: Can Canada pragmatically manage relations with Beijing while repairing vital ties with Washington and what do current developments in the international trade sphere reveal about overall shifts in the global political economy? And importantly, what is the strategic smart play for Canada?

Our speaker:

Coming to us directly from China where he has been on a recent visit, Dr. Wenran Jiang is a tenured professor of political economy at the University of Alberta, the President of Canada-China Energy and Environment Forum, and a board member of Toronto-based Institute for Peace and Diplomacy. He was the Visiting Chevalier Chair at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia; Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington D.C.; twice a Japan Foundation Fellow; and special advisor on China to the US and Canada based Energy Council.

Before taking early retirement, he served as the special advisor to the Alberta Department of Energy on Asian market diversification from 2012 to 2014, and as the Founding Director of University of Alberta’s China Institute from 2005 to 2008. For his contribution to secure $37.2 million permanent endowment funding for the China Institute during his tenure, he was appointed the Sandy MacTaggart Research Chair.

Details

  • Date: September 17, 2025
  • Time:
    11:30 am - 1:30 pm PDT

Venue

  • The Union Club of BC
  • 805 Gordon Street
    Victoria, BC V8W 1Z6 Canada     + Google Map

Organizer

  • CIC Victoria