Asia Watch Archive

What began as an aside by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session has spiralled into a full-blown bilateral spat, with Beijing launching daily broadsides over what it calls Takaichi’s “blatantly provocative” conduct.

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s former long-time leader, was sentenced to death on Monday over her role in a government crackdown last year that killed an estimated 1,400 people and saw thousands more injured and imprisoned.

Taiwan’s vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, embarked on a landmark visit to Europe last week, addressing a European Parliament group and pitching deeper ties across several fronts.

Hsiao addressed an annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) inside the European Parliament building in Brussels last Friday, where she urged Europe and Taiwan to “stand together in defending democracy,” and deepen co-operation on supply chains, cybersecurity, and countering disinformation.

The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) formally kicked off in Belém, Brazil, on Monday, mere days after one of the year’s most destructive storms wreaked havoc and killed hundreds across Southeast Asia.

In March, upon becoming Liberal Party leader, Mark Carney said, “I know how the world works... and that knowledge is especially useful now, [as] we must build a new economy and create new trading relationships.”

Carney put that knowledge to the test last week at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit in South Korea, courting leaders from around the region to bolster Ottawa’s trade, defence, and energy relationships.

Gyeongju, South Korea, was the setting for a whirlwind Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit last weekend, which featured a flurry of bilateral deals and down-to-the-wire negotiations over a joint statement.

North Korea’s top diplomat met with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, hailing the “spiritual closeness” of the two countries and committing to deepen bilateral ties.

Kuala Lumpur was briefly the centre of the diplomatic universe this week, playing host to leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and across the world for three days of dealmaking and talks.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expelled nine top-ranking generals from its ranks and the military for alleged financial crimes over the weekend, the most dramatic purge since CCP general secretary Xi Jinping took office in 2012.

Good things come to those who are made to wait, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discovered this week, as he triumphed in a long-delayed meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.

Twelve rare-earth elements constitute the most recent flashpoint in an evolving U.S.–China trade spat, following a punishing proposal by Beijing to restrict the export of materials crucial for the production of smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, missile-guidance systems, and more.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s trip to India from October 12–14 nudged the bilateral relationship from a cautious ‘reset’ to a comprehensive ‘renewal,’ marking an end to two years of strained ties.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand will meet with Indian officials in New Delhi and Mumbai from October 12–13 ahead of a one-day stay in China and then Singapore, setting up a key week for Canadian diplomacy in Asia.

Takaichi Sanae secured the leadership of Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a “surprise” victory on Saturday, positioning herself as the first woman to become Japanese prime minister.

A month after his May election win, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney phoned Chinese Premier Li Qiang, with both leaders agreeing to recalibrate the relationship.

In the end, not even the furniture could be saved: U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest barrage of tariffs — encompassing a 10 per cent levy on softwood lumber and timber and a 25 per cent levy on cabinets, bathroom vanities, and upholstered furniture — has plunged the U.S.’s Indo-Pacific trading partners into further uncertainty, with many racing to conclude bilateral trade agreements to dodge future bouts of surprise tariffs.

Two years after Canada–India diplomatic relations flew into a tailspin, bilateral ties are stabilizing, thanks to a mix of dialogue, patience, and new geopolitical realities.

On September 18, 2023, then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused “agents of the Indian government” of carrying out the June 2023 murder of Canadian Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Burnaby, B.C., sending bilateral relations reeling.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was in New York City earlier this week for the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) High-Level Week, but scored his biggest diplomatic coup at home on Wednesday, signing the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Ottawa alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

Last week, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto fired Sri Mulyani Indrawati, one of Indonesia's longest-serving finance ministers, in a fresh bid to unshackle economic growth and quell further protests.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday that the U.S. and China reached a tentative “framework” agreement on the fate of TikTok, stopping the clock on a ban and possibly transferring the app into U.S.-controlled ownership.