Asia Watch Archive

Over the past three weeks, North Korea has provoked its southern neighbour with a playbook blending tried-and-true ‘scare tactics’ with newer, more unconventional methods.

Narendra Modi will continue as India’s prime minister after voters returned him to power with a weakened legislative mandate, a shock result for Modi who sought — and seemingly expected — a strong majority.

Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked up 240 seats in the country’s lower house, known as the Lok Sabha, out of a possible 543 seats.

Canadian defence minister Bill Blair was in Singapore over the weekend for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of top defence officials, academics, and journalists.

Indonesia may join Canada, Japan, and nine other states in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as the country finalizes its application to the 11-member trade deal.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met in Seoul on Monday for long-awaited talks on trade, people-to-people exchanges, science and technology, and more. The three countries’ last leaders’ summit took place in 2019.

On Monday, the head of the UN’s refugee agency lamented that Myanmar’s civil war was “dramatically worsening,” largely due to the “brutal crackdown” by the ruling junta. He urged neighbouring Bangladesh — which, since 2017, has accepted more than one million Rohingya from Myanmar — to once again protect those fleeing violence.

On May 20, Taiwan instated its new president, Lai Ching-te, who said in his inauguration speech that in the face of the “many threats” from China, “we must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation.”

On Tuesday, the Indian and Australian navies concluded bilateral talks and agreed to boost collaboration, “marking a significant milestone” in the relationship, according to India.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden quadrupled tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in a move to “protect” American workers and shore up votes as the U.S. presidential election — now just 173 days away — draws ever closer, and candidates tout ‘tough-on-China' trade policies.

Three Indian nationals appeared in a B.C. court on Tuesday on first-degree murder charges linked to the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot in Surrey, B.C., last June. Police arrested the suspects last week in Edmonton.

In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the Indian government may be linked to Nijjar’s murder, rocking diplomatic relations. The RCMP confirmed that it is investigating these supposed links.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Enrique Manalo, is on a cross-Canada tour this week, as the two countries celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations.

An extreme heat wave has swept across South and Southeast Asia, exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern that has created drier weather conditions and pushed temperatures to dangerous highs. In addition to the immediate public health threat, schools were closed in many countries and demand for water and electricity strained utilities.

Starting Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit France, Hungary, and Serbia, his first trip to Europe in nearly five years.

Prabowo Subianto seems to have cleared the final obstacle to becoming Indonesia’s next president.

After four years on the job, China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, is leaving Ottawa.

April elections and exits could alter the Indo-Pacific's political makeup from South Korea to Singapore, with further votes across India and Solomon Islands scheduled for later this month.

As headlines this week warn of further fighting between Iran and Israel, the list of potential and ongoing global ‘flashpoints’ grows larger, creating challenges for some governments — and opportunities for others.

The Russia-Ukraine war, a civil war in Myanmar, hostilities in the South China Sea, tensions over Taiwan, and now, a potential Middle East conflict all command the increasingly divided attention of diplomats around the world.
 

Leaders of Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S. convene in Washington, D.C., today for a historic trilateral summit. The meeting comes as China and the Philippines feud in the South China Sea and the U.S. works to fortify ties with states that can offset Beijing’s influence in the region.

Last Sunday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled an ambitious C$2.4-billion investment to “secure Canada’s AI advantage,” with the bulk of the funding to enhance computing capabilities and build technological infrastructure for researchers.

Washington and London applied sanctions on a hacker group reportedly tied to the Chinese Ministry of State Security last week, alleging that Beijing sponsored a co-ordinated cyberespionage campaign that targeted