Asia Watch Archive

South Korea said Tuesday it would consider supplying arms to Kyiv after Seoul’s spy agency alleged that North Korea has sent up to 3,000 special forces soldiers to Russia to assist with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, fusing together European and Asian security anxieties and raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

On Monday, China held sweeping military drills in the seas and skies around Taiwan in response to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's resolute National Day speech three days earlier.

Canada and India came to the table on Thanksgiving Monday not to break bread after months of tensions, but to trade stunning allegations, recriminations, and expulsions, sending diplomatic relations to an all-time low and imperiling Canada’s broader relationship with a country identified as a “critical partner” just two years ago.

On Monday in Manila, the Philippines and South Korea formally elevated their bilateral relationship to a “strategic partnership,” an upgrade entailing more co-operation between coast guards and a greater joint focus on tourism, supply chains, and nuclear energy.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Laos today for the ASEAN leaders’ summit, a gathering featuring ASEAN’s 10 members and a coterie of external dialogue partners — including Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, India, Russia, and the U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed a 3,000-person reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, delivering an address on the eve of National Day that contained familiar calls for “national rejuvenation” and “Chinese modernization,” while reiterating a claim that “Taiwan is an integral part of China's territory.”

Japanese voters will head to the polls on October 27, following a snap election call by newly instated Japanese prime minister Ishiba Shigeru, a self-described“defence nerd” who has floated plans for an ‘Asian NATO’ and is determined to revise a key security treaty with t

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly were in New York City this week for the United Nations General Assembly and its Summit of the Future, where leaders and diplomats tried to — in the words of the UN’s secretary-ge

U.S. President Joe Biden hosted his last meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue on Saturday, bringing together leaders from Australia, Japan, and India in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

After a summer of unrest, Bangladesh is seeking a reset under its brand-new interim government. Led by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi government is beginning to engage with — and host — representatives from other countries to kick-start a return to normalcy.

The U.S. House of Representatives sent a whopping 26 China-focused bills to the Senate last week, exhibiting flashes of both cross-party compromise and partisan sparring, and revealing American lawmakers’ views on (nearly) all things China.

Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Vietnam in 30 years, has killed at least 200 people since the storm made landfall on Saturday, injuring hundreds more and inflicting millions of dollars in damages.

Canadian defence minister Bill Blair departs for Japan today following a four-day trip to South Korea, a dual diplomatic tour designed to strengthen ties with two of Canada’s closest Indo-Pacific allies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday, meeting with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh to commemorate a Russia-Mongolia military victory over Japan’s army in 1939 and sign agreements on fuel and energy, road transportation, and railway development.

This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is hosting leaders and senior diplomats from 50 African countries in Beijing for the Summit of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which runs from September 4–6.

Close to 7,000 troops from 10 countries, including Canada, Indonesia, and the U.S., are taking part in a series of military exercises across Indonesia over the next two weeks.

Canada has cast the latest stone in an escalating trade tussle with China, matching the U.S.’s 100 per cent levy on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) and its 25 per cent surtax on steel and aluminum. Both measures will come into effect in October.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi are also racing along the diplomatic circuit, with Xi this week playing host to Vietnamese Communist Party chief To Lam.

For many, August is a sleepy stretch of tranquility and ease, where work wanes and the days melt away.

On Wednesday, August 7, Thailand’s Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Move Forward Party (MFP), ruling that its campaign pledge to amend the lese-majeste law violated the Constitution. That law makes it an offence, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to criticize the country’s monarchy.