East-West balance: University of Alberta professor Wenran Jiang and his wife Tanya Casperson with their sons Hadrian, 9, and Tristan, 5. Photo: CP (Sean Connor)

Wenran Jiang is leading an ideal Asian-Canadian existence. Born in Harbin, a large industrial city in northeastern China, Jiang immigrated to Canada when, as a doctoral student in Ottawa in the mid-1980s, he met and married a Canadian. He moved to Edmonton to find the city twinned with Harbin, its Chinatown featuring a Harbin Road (a counterpart to Edmonton Road, the main airport thoroughfare in Harbin) and graced with a ceremonial gate constructed by the people of Harbin as a gift to their sister city. Jiang's nine-year-old son, Hadrian, attends a primary school where he is taught in English and Mandarin in one of the most extensive public foreign-language programs on the continent. Son Tristan, five, will start there in the fall. The family home is what Jiang calls an "East meets West compromise": Chinese antiques and carved panels mix with contemporary furniture, all arranged according to feng shui, the mystical Chinese art promoting energy and balance.

"In Canada, I couldn't be closer to home," quips Jiang, 48, an associate professor of political science at the University of Alberta. He perpetuates this East-West balance as a specialist on East Asia focusing on foreign policy, human rights and development studies. He moves easily between his new home and Asia, an observer, advocate and instrument of closer ties with the region. He is especially an expert on Canada's relations with China in the energy sector, the subject of recent conferences he's organized between the two countries.

Jiang is an example of the expanding personal, economic, political, cultural and developmental links between Canada and Asia Pacific. Reflected in the outpouring of sympathy and generosity following the devastating Boxing Day tsunami and reinforced by recent visits to Asia by Prime Minister Paul Martin and a high-level trade mission, Canada is fully committed to engaging in the region.

"Asia is no longer foreign; in many respects, we are an integral part of it, and it is part of us," says David Mulroney, Assistant Deputy Minister of Bilateral Relations at Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC). "This is a region where economic interests intersect with security and personal interests to strategically affect Canadian interests...Engaging with Asia Pacific is not optional; it is key to our prosperity and security, especially in a globalized world."

A strategic involvement

Canada has long-standing and long-range relations with the vast and diverse Asia Pacific, which stretches from Afghanistan to Tahiti and from Mongolia to New Zealand. Historical ties were based on both immigration, with the early Chinese, Japanese and South Asians who came to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, and trade, beginning with a booming export to China of wild ginseng by Jesuit missionaries in Quebec in the early 1700s. Links with Asia Pacific have grown, with the region accounting, for example, for half of all new immigrants to Canada in the last decade.

Today Canada is focused on the century's emerging powers, China and India, as well as on deepening relations with Japan. Beyond these priority relationships, Canada continues to engage with the rest of Asia as a founding and active member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and through constructive interaction with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a major market for Canadian outward investment and partner in the campaign against terrorism. Canada also has strong ties with countries such as South Korea and Australia.

Mr. Martin, travelling in the region in January to express solidarity with the governments and populations of countries affected by the tsunami as well as to advance Canadian interests there both bilaterally and multilaterally, forged a number of historic agreements and declarations to further ties. These include a Canada-Japan Economic Framework to establish a comprehensive economic partnership between the two countries; a commitment by China to grant Approved Destination Status, allowing Chinese tourists to visit Canada more easily; and discussions with India on improving global governance and institutions. "The world's power patterns are changing," Mr. Martin said. "Asia is a dynamic region that holds tremendous opportunity."

Opportunity...

The numbers speak for themselves. Within a generation, three out of the world's four largest economies will be Japan, China and India. By 2020, the gross domestic product of northeast Asia alone as a percentage of global GDP is expected to eclipse that of the United States.

A mission led by International Trade Minister Jim Peterson in January to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, which included representatives from 280 Canadian companies, further developed commercial ties with China. More than 100 agreements were signed between Canadian and Chinese companies. "With China redefining global trade, a China business plan is no longer an option for Canadian companies; it's a must," said Mr. Peterson, who will visit India this spring.

Advancing Canadian interests: Prime Minister Paul Martin meets with Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the National People's Congress, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Dave Chan, PMO

Canadians are bullish about economic prospects in Asia and feel that stronger ties are vital to the well-being of this country. Those surveyed in a poll conducted last summer for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said that Asia represents a region of dynamic growth and an opportunity for Canadian businesses and investment. More than 70 percent said that the Government of Canada should promote increased trade with Asia, while 73 percent believe that Canada should diversify its trade to be less dependent on the U.S.

"The survey underscores the value that Canadians place on building stronger economic ties with Asian countries," says John Wiebe, President and CEO of the foundation. "Canadian firms that are skilled at delivering high-end services such as architectural and environmental design, education, financial services, software and telecom are succeeding in Asia. More can do the same."

However, succeeding in Asian markets requires preparation and commitment, says Ken Sunquist, Assistant Deputy Minister of the World Markets Branch for International Trade Canada. "Companies need to be prepared for the long haul in establishing relationships and building solid networks in Asia," he says, adding that the region is not homogenous. "Canadian companies need solid business plans that recognize both the challenges and opportunities in a specific market and build on the strengths of the relationship between the two countries."

...and challenge

The region is equally important to security. Canada is working cooperatively with countries there to address threats posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles and terrorism.

Canada actively advocates non-proliferation, is helping to build counterterrorism capacity and supports good governance initiatives throughout the region, including the promotion of human rights and judicial training as well as election monitoring and voter education in countries such as Indonesia.

Development success story: A laboratory worker at Medigloves Ltd. in Thailand, a country that has advanced from being a recipient of aid to becoming a full economic partner with Canada. Photo: CIDA-ACDI/Roger LeMoyne

A good case study of the Canadian strategy on security and governance is in Afghanistan. Canada is active in the country on diplomacy, development and defence fronts--the so-called 3-D approach--in an effort to restore stability, support growth and help build democracy there. Canada contributed close to $24 million to the Afghanistan presidential election last October, which was considered a watershed in the country's transition toward a democratic, self-sustaining state.

Development partnership

Over the last 25 years, a number of Asian countries receiving assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) have made significant progress. In Malaysia and Thailand, for example, health, nutrition, life expectancy and other indicators of human development have improved to the point that the countries are graduating to becoming donors in their own right.

"It's been a great success story, a shift from these countries being recipients of aid to becoming full economic partners," says Bob Johnston, Director General of Strategic Planning for Asia for CIDA. However, he cautions that there are still large pockets of poverty in the region. "The bottom line reality is that 60 percent of the world's poor live in Asia...Overall the numbers are still quite intimidating."

The tsunami disaster galvanized Canadians into focusing on the region in particular and on humanitarian assistance more generally, not just in times of crisis but for the long term.

"The crisis has presented an important opportunity for building relationships and solidarity among communities that should be supported," Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on the aftermath of the disaster in Jakarta in January. "The international community will need to remain engaged in the region over the longer term...Canada will be there--as a full partner--for as long as it takes."

The tsunami was "a tipping point," says Paul Evans, Acting Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues, "flushing money into the region on an unprecedented scale" and bringing international attention to deep-seated conflicts in countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia. "The seal is broken," he says, adding that the new eyes may bring new players and a new context for the internal issues.

A role for Canada

How Canada should and can play a role more broadly in the region is a topic of intense discussion. In China, for example, it is important to make certain that Canada capitalizes on the country's tremendous economic growth, while ensuring that China is a responsible member of the international community. "Canadian commercial activities in Asia are only one part of the picture," Evans says. "I'm worried about the single lens that's being put on the relationship; we can't be active in Asia without a social, security and political focus as well as an economic approach."

Wenran Jiang, who worked on a dairy farm for five years during the Cultural Revolution and led student protests in Ottawa in 1989 against the Chinese government's actions in Tiananmen Square, says that Canada must work with the Chinese to try to have an influence on the country in a strategic way. A "spotlight approach," he says, will not work.

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew surveys the tsunami damage in Phuket, Thailand, in January: "The international community will need to remain engaged in the region over the long term. Canada will be there--as a full partner--for as long as it takes." Photo: FAC

"There shouldn't be any question of whether we engage; the question is how we engage China," he says. "We can try to assert our influence effectively to help China be more open-minded, more of a society based on the rule of law, more gradually moving toward a democracy." Canada is especially a model of a multicultural, tolerant society, he says. "China would very much like to learn about Canada, as much as Canadians want to learn about China."

Indeed, links with Asia Pacific bring a wealth of "human capital," adds Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, a professor of political science at Concordia University in Montreal. Her university has established China and India as priorities, encouraging academic exchanges, research collaboration and access to distance education with the two countries. Canada can especially benefit from dialogue with India, she says, in areas such as parliamentary democracy, collective versus individual rights, Aboriginal issues and the relationship between justice, law and politics.

The region is also the demographic heart of Islam and thus affords significant links to the Muslim world. The majority of the world's Muslims live in Asia--Indonesia is the largest Islamic country and Bangladesh the second largest--making Canadian ties with the region critical to better understand and engage in a dialogue with Muslim communities.

Personal ties

Today one in three Canadians has family links in Asia. These Canadians are increasingly involved in foreign policy as citizens, business people, politicians, scholars and students to help Canada build bridges with the region. But that significant population also means that Asian issues resonate on the domestic political scene.

Tremblay, who comes from Kashmir in northwest India and married a francophone Canadian, says she "walks in and out of the two cultures very easily." However, Tremblay says, many Asian immigrants can bring with them links to separatist movements and internal conflicts, as well as sensitivities about long-standing cultural and class norms that clash with the Canadian experience. Their children, meanwhile, will be much more able to promote positive links to their homelands.

"The next generation is going to be different," she says. "These kids who are growing up here, they're trilingual, they're going to be the future."

Responding to these trends is vital. The Speech from the Throne in British Columbia in February emphasized a role for the province as a gateway to Asia Pacific, a "golden opportunity" to forge new relationships in terms of trade, investment, visitors and cultures. It announced education measures such as the promotion in schools of Punjabi, Mandarin and other Asia Pacific languages.

Future imperative

The importance of Asian languages--and the trade, cultural and other ties they bring--was driven home in a provocative way when The Globe and Mail filled the front page of a Saturday edition last fall with 20 Chinese characters in a type size usually reserved for war or moon landings accompanied by the English: "If you can't read these words, better start brushing up...." In the largest single undertaking in the newspaper's history, three dozen journalists put together a comprehensive portrait of contemporary China. Explained Edward Greenspon, Editor in Chief of the newspaper, "Make no mistake about it: China is rising."

Cross cultural play: Team Canada's Cassie Campbell closes in on Team China goaltender Hong Guo at the 2004 World Women's Ice Hockey Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Photo: CP (Andrew Vaughan)

Jiang says that although the benefits of greater connections with the region are significant, they will not come without work, sacrifice and some adjustments. He passed up a career opportunity, for example, so that his son could enter the Chinese-English bilingual program in Edmonton three years ago. He moved his family to a new neighbourhood within an easy distance of the school--and since then has endured the frustrations of a child learning a difficult new language.

"It's a lot of pain, a lot of me helping him, a lot of struggle," Jiang explains. "But for Hadrian, this is about a lot more than cultural identity. It will help him and others to have that language. It's a reality that we have to cope with."

Find out more about Canada's relations with Asia Pacific and subscribe to a monthly newsletter showcasing Canadian people, business, development assistance and culture in the region at www.international.gc.ca/asia-pacific.

Lasting bonds When the University of British Columbia found that it had more than 3,000 former students as well as research and development ties in one community, it decided to open an office there. The location? Hong Kong--just one of many cities throughout Asia Pacific where UBC is deeply networked through academic partnerships, research initiatives and active alumni. "We hold a very vital link for Canada in this region," says Kenneth McGillivray, Director of UBC International, which develops global alliances for the university. "We have six decades of work there." While governments forge the broad context in which trade, political and cultural exchange takes place between nations, it is ultimately a myriad of people-to-people links that carry the current between societies. Cities such as Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver are home to substantial populations from China, India, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and elsewhere, new Canadians with trade, professional and cultural ties to their countries of origin. With some 4,000 international students, many from Asia, UBC has institutionalized such connections. On campus is Korea House, a residence for 200 Korean students created through an alliance with the South Korean government. UBC is trying to build a quadrant of such facilities, explains McGillivray, noting that "very strong and lasting relationships" with Asia Pacific have strengthened the university. Students from Asia make up some 40 percent of the 53,000 international post-secondary students in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. They bring considerable wealth to this country and carry Canadian knowledge and personal associations home with them. UBC's Pacific coast location has been a benefit in this regard. Yet while there are 353,000 residents of east and southeastern Asian origin in Vancouver, Toronto's population of 488,000 from the same region can reach out to Asia Pacific just as readily. Signs of change: Asian Canadians have brought a unique mix of culture and commerce to Canada, such as this stretch of Toronto's Chinatown. Photo: CP (Steve White) "Some of our people here export back overseas," comments Ken Ng, an immigrant from Hong Kong and a family physician who is chair of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Markham, the booming north Toronto suburb peppered with new Asian malls and housing. Links with mainland China are deepening, notes Ng, with the ease in immigration from there. Conversely, it was with tremendous difficulty that many of Canada's 210,000 people of Vietnamese origin came, largely in the seventies and eighties. But Phung Van Hanh looks at his community of some 40,000 Vietnamese Canadians in Montreal with great pride today. "We have many engineers, we have about 10,000 technicians in computer work," says Phung, former president of the Vietnamese Canadian Federation. "The situation is better day after day," he says, adding that the province of Quebec, home to 60,000 Vietnamese in all, was an immediate fit for many who arrived in this country with fluency in French. Family links: Although she was born a Canadian, two-year-old Ushmi Kabir raises her hand to take the citizenship oath along with her mother Nasima (right) and big sister Lamia at a ceremony in St. John's, Newfoundland, in 2004. The family is originally from Bangladesh. Photo: CP (Keith Gosse) The diversity within Canada's Asian communities creates a breadth of important bonds with societies that Canadians need to better understand. Immigrants from Bangladesh and Malaysia, for example, bring links to the Muslim world, while those from places such as Japan facilitate cultural exchange with their home countries. Connections with the region have especially proliferated in the last decade, says Willy Lumbanraja, President of the Indonesian Canadian Community Association in Mississauga, Ontario. "Before that, Indonesians didn't know a lot about Canada." They are learning quickly. And while the some 4,500 Indonesians in the Toronto area carry much knowledge of their culture, it is in Canada that they seek to use it, Lumbanraja remarks. "Most of us say we want to stay here, especially the children."