Canada needs to keep up its presence in Southeast Asia: Trudeau

Canada needs to support up its beingness successful Southeast Asia if it wants to payment from the region’s economical boom, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said connected Friday arsenic helium wrapped up his sojourn to Laos.

Trudeau participated successful the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit this week, marking the 3rd clip he’s attended the yearly meeting.

The premier curate said pursuing bonds with ASEAN members is not astir governmental ideology oregon leaving a authorities footprint, but alternatively it’s astir acknowledging the economical opportunities successful the region.

But to payment from what Southeast Asia has to offer, Trudeau said Canadians request to marque their beingness felt successful the region.

“That’s truly a large portion of the challenge, making definite that we are showing up,” Trudeau said successful a quality league connected Friday.

“Showing up arsenic leader, yes, but much importantly, showing up arsenic businesses connected commercialized missions, gathering those connections, making the investments successful much maritime information beingness and defence presence, making much investments successful upgrading embassies and opening commercialized offices.”

Trudeau announced during the sojourn that Canada is upgrading its diplomatic missions successful Vientiane, Laos, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia to afloat embassies.

He besides announced a $128-million bundle of backing astatine the summit, with the bulk of the wealth going toward biology extortion and combating clime change.

The sojourn to Laos comes arsenic Canada works toward a free-trade woody with the 10-nation bloc and a abstracted woody with Indonesia, which some countries are aiming to motion by the extremity of the year.

ASEAN countries unneurotic represented Canada’s fourth-largest trading spouse past year, and commercialized with the portion has astir doubled since 2015.

The sojourn besides builds connected the Liberal government’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which acceptable retired a roadworthy representation to fortify subject and economical relationships successful the portion and counterbalance the power of China.

Canada’s efforts are portion of a larger Western propulsion for stronger economical and governmental relationships with southeast Asian countries, mostly to trim reliance connected Chinese goods.

Trending Now

Countries successful the portion person their ain concerns related to China, including ongoing disputes implicit the South China Sea.

The ASEAN acme followed a bid of convulsive confrontations astatine oversea betwixt China and ASEAN members Philippines and Vietnam, which person fuelled concerns that China’s assertive actions could spiral into a full-scale conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told southeast Asian leaders astatine the acme connected Friday that the U.S. is acrophobic astir China’s “increasingly unsafe and unlawful” activities, and pledged the U.S. volition proceed to uphold state of navigation successful the captious oversea commercialized route.

When asked astir the escalation, Trudeau said Canada wants to spot planetary instrumentality respected.

“These are things that we abide by — and not conscionable basal by connected paper, but we show that each clip we nonstop a Coast Guard vas oregon a subject (Canadian Armed Forces) vessel done the South China Sea. It is planetary waters and needs to beryllium unfastened for each navigation,” helium said.

— With files from The Associated Press.