Asia Watch Archive

Longtime Liberal MP Judy Sgro, chair of the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group, plans to travel to Taiwan in October with a group of Liberal and Conservative MPs, in defiance of Beijing’s orders to stay away from the island. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Monday and Tuesday for his first visit to North Korea since 2019 and his first trip abroad this year.

Myanmar’s president and former junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, wrapped up a five-day visit to India yesterday, his first trip abroad since becoming president two months ago.

Nearly 600 diplomats, politicians, policy experts, and academics from 40 countries descended on Singapore last week for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting focused on Indo-Pacific geopolitics, defence and security, and U.S.–China relations.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. travelled to Japan on Tuesday for a four-day state visit that coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ‘normalization’ between Manila and Tokyo.

Ottawa managed back-to-back visits by ministers from India and China this week, a previously unthinkable milestone in Canada’s Indo-Pacific engagement.

Piyush Goyal, India’s commerce and industry minister, visited Canada from Monday to Wednesday. China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, arrives today, right on Goyal’s heels. The two countries represent one-third of the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae met on Tuesday to discuss bilateral ties, the Middle East, and supply chains as both countries look to firm up energy security.

Starting last weekend, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi toured the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy on a six-day trip focused on trade, semiconductors, immigration, and advanced manufacturing. This is Modi’s third trip abroad in 2026 — following visits to Israel and Malaysia — and comes just months after the signing of the European Union–India free trade agreement (FTA) in January.

The Philippines House of Representatives voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, a move likely to inflame the feud between the Duterte camp and that of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The impeachment, based on allegations of misusing public funds and threatening Marcos Jr. and other senior government officials, will face a tougher vote in the Senate. Duterte denies the allegations, claiming they are politically motivated.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for his long-awaited summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both leaders are prioritizing stability in the relationship and extending the trade truce they reached at the APEC meetings in South Korea last October.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will invest a staggering US$70 billion to boost energy and digital infrastructure across the region – US$50 billion for a Pan-Asia Power Grid Initiative and another US$20 billion for technology and digital connectivity.

International diplomacy over the past week has been a study in contrasts: from Washington, inconsistent messaging and stop-start measures to resolve the crisis in Iran; from the Indo-Pacific, clarity of purpose by leaders looking to shore up ties with regional partners around shared interests.

On May 1, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi touched down in Vietnam for a three-day visit that culminated in agreements on space, digital transformation, and green growth.

On Monday, India and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement (FTA) that took just nine months to negotiate, a win for both sides and a potential model for Canada in forging its own trade deal with India.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong travelled to China, Japan, and South Korea this week on a trip triggered by the conflict in the Middle East and Australia’s energy vulnerabilities.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung made state visits to India and Vietnam this week to deepen ties with two of Asia’s fastest-growing economies and reduce dependence on Seoul’s traditional U.S.–China trade binary.

In 2024, an estimated 37 per cent of South Korean goods exports were destined for either mainland China or the U.S., while 10.8 per cent went to Vietnam and India.

One of Asia's largest military exercises kicked off on Monday in the Philippines, bringing together 17,000 personnel from seven countries for land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace drills designed to project strength and solidarity as regional tensions heat up.

China is working with Pakistan to end the conflict in the Middle East to reinforce its image as a “responsible and stable” global power, but other diplomatic manoeuvres risk undermining that goal and China’s relations with the U.S. and Gulf states.

Ottawa is making inroads towards its goal of doubling non-U.S. exports over the next decade, thanks in part to blossoming Canada–China trade, practical co-operation on the ground, and warming ties between Canadian provinces and Beijing.

Southeast Asians are most worried about climate change, major-power rivalry, and the U.S.’s volatile foreign policy, according to an annual pulse-check of regional elites.

On Tuesday, the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a research centre in Singapore, released its State of Southeast Asia 2026 Survey.

China hosted the leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party this week for the first time in a decade, sidelining Taiwan’s democratically elected government and reigniting debates in Taipei over the ‘right’ approach to China: dialogue, deterrence, or a mix of both.