Asia Watch Archive

Genta Koja won Okinawa’s gubernatorial election with 59 per cent of the vote on Sunday, benefiting Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, who backed Koja, and increasing the odds of more defence infrastructure in Okinawa.

Financiers responsible for C$100 trillion in assets gathered in Toronto this week for two days of dealmaking as Canada looks to supercharge investment over the next five years.

New Delhi finds itself in a tricky position this weekend, hosting leaders from China, Russia, and Iran while trying not to jeopardize ties with the U.S., its largest market for goods and services and a key security partner.

Canadian and Chinese officials met in Ottawa for a defence co-ordination dialogue on September 4, reviving a mechanism dormant for eight years.

The leaders of China, India, and Russia met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday and Tuesday for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a security-focused group of largely Central Asian states.

SCO members include Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This week, leaders discussed the U.S.–Iran conflict, the Russia–Ukraine war, and other regional issues.

India’s real GDP grew 7.8 per cent in the April–June quarter this year, beating estimates and confirming India as the world’s fastest-growing large economy.

On August 13, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong cancelled collaborations between the Australian National University and China's Shandong University and between the University of Queensland (UQ) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the first such order under the country’s 2020 Foreign Relations Act.

U.S. President Donald Trump resorted to threats and name-calling in his on-again, off-again trade war with Canada this week, adding urgency to Ottawa’s Indo-Pacific trade negotiations and delighting Beijing, for one, with more evidence of what it described as the “failure of U.S. policy.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a 75-minute Independence Day speech on Saturday, listing his accomplishments, outlining his priorities, and attempting to "awaken the strength of the nation."

The U.S. inched further away from the Indo-Pacific this week, abruptly reducing its involvement in military exercises with South Korea and relocating an aircraft carrier from Asia to the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. would “substantially reduce” its involvement alongside South Korea in the “Ulchi Freedom Shield” exercises, originally scheduled for August 17–27.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's political honeymoon has screeched to a halt over market instability, "soaring" housing prices, and other controversies.

Over the past nine days, truckers, shopkeepers, sailors, chefs, and even the president himself sprang into action across Taiwan, contributing to an islan

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand last week, focusing on defence, uranium, and trade.

Over the weekend, 14 countries, including Canada, reaffirmed support for a decade-old ruling that invalidates Beijing's sweeping claims over much of the South China Sea, siding with the Philippines and, in the process, attracting China's ire.

Australia cemented just its fourth official alliance on Monday, signing a mutual-defence agreement and major investment deal with Fiji, partly to ward off Chinese influence in the South Pacific. On Monday in Fiji’s capital of Suva, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Fijian counterpart, Sitiveni Rabuka, signed the "Ocean of Peace Alliance," which commits each country to aid the other in the event of an attack.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joined his fellow NATO leaders in Ankara, Türkiye, on Tuesday and Wednesday for the annual summit of the defence alliance, discussing the Russia–Ukraine war, increased military spending, and the U.S.–Iran conflict.

The European Union’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Monday, seeking to reshape a lopsided trade relationship and prevent a summer of discontent between Brussels and Beijing.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived in Vancouver, B.C., on Canada Day for a four-day visit, which included a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday. It was the first visit by a Philippine head of state to Canada since 2015.

A trio of Canadian ministers travelled to Japan this week for a mission focused on trade, industry, and defence, looking to seal deals and hedge against plodding trade talks with the U.S. and Mexico.

National security advisers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) and beyond met in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss “non-traditional security challenges,” including the risks posed by new technologies, according to India’s foreign ministry.

BRICS has expanded over the last two years, now counting Egypt, Indonesia, and Iran as members, among others. Together, the expanded ‘BRICS+’ accounts for roughly half of the world’s population and 40 per cent of global GDP.