The catalyst for the government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy could have been the Meng Wanzhou affair and the arbitrary imprisonment by the Chinese regime of two Canadians, an expert suggested during a panel discussion on Dec. 7. James Boutilier, a distinguished fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute (MLI), said there have been calls for Canada to engage…
Canada’s ‘Negative Experience’ Due to Beijing’s Actions During Meng Wanzhou Affair May Have Been Catalyst for Indo-Pacific Strategy, Panel Hears
China Under International Pressure Despite Xi’s Recent Trips Abroad: Experts
Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently made high-profile visits abroad, meeting world leaders after he secured a third term as the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in last month’s National Congress. Chinese official media tout Xi’s diplomatic achievements from the trips. However, international analysts point out that he achieved very little, and it is…
ASEAN Leaders Give ‘In-Principle’ Support for Timor-Leste’s Membership. What Does This Actually Mean?
On Friday, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s member states provided a statement announcing “in-principle” support for Timor-Leste to be admitted as its 11th member. So does this mean Timor-Leste’s long wait to become a member of ASEAN is finally over? The short answer is not quite. It is a positive development that all…
Trudeau Pledges $1 Million for Clearing Landmines, Cluster Bombs in Cambodia, Laos
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has wrapped up his first stop of a tour in Southeast Asia by announcing nearly $1 million to help remove unexploded landmines and cluster bombs from the region. He made the $990,000 pledge at an event focused on women in security as the summit of the Association of Southeast…
Trudeau Makes New Funding Announcements During Southeast Asia Summit
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a slew of funding announcements in Cambodia on Saturday aimed at deepening economic and academic ties with Southeast Asia, after decades of sporadic engagement with the region. “This is a generational shift,” Trudeau told leaders gathered in Phnom Penh for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian…
Joly Won’t Meet Her Russian Counterpart, but Is Open to Working With China
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Canada’s foreign affairs minister says she won’t meet with her Russian counterpart when the two cross paths at international summits in the coming days. Mélanie Joly says she is open to the idea of working with China on certain issues, but says Russia must be treated like a pariah. Joly is travelling to…
Trudeau Arrives in Cambodia for ASEAN Summit as Canada Seeks Deeper Indo-Pacific Ties
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has touched down in Cambodia for a summit aimed at deepening economic ties with Southeast Asia, a region where Canada’s engagement has been sporadic. Trudeau is in Phnom Penh for the leaders’ summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a bloc of 10 countries that includes some of…
Though Fearful of China, Southeast Asia Still Prefers to Go It Alone
Commentary When the noted writer and philosopher—and ardent atheist—Voltaire lay dying, a priest was supposed to have attempted a deathbed conversion; but when the priest urged him to renounce Satan, Voltaire replied, “Now is not the time to be making enemies.” I felt a similar experience when I attended a pair of back-to-back conferences last…
Blinken Calls on China, ASEAN Countries to Hold Burma Accountable
BANGKOK—U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday urged China and members of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN to put pressure on the rulers of Burma (also known as Myanmar) to return to democracy and to hold it accountable to a peace deal agreed with the group. “It is incumbent on China and in China’s interest…
Cambodia Invites Burmese Junta’s Defense Minister to ASEAN Summit
Cambodia has invited the Burmese junta’s defense minister to the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, despite the pleas of hundreds of human rights groups to bar him from attending due to the junta’s atrocities against civilians. General Nem Sowath, director-general of Cambodia’s General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs at the Defense Ministry, said on…
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