Category: foreign affairs

Australia and India to Ink Free Trade Deal as Australia Pushes For Market Diversification

Australia and India are set to ink an interim free trade deal in the next three weeks, which has been considered an important move in deepening trade relations and furthering Australia’s push for diversification. The agreement precedes a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) which is expected in 12-18 months and aims at boosting opportunities in…


Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Plans Asia Travel Before Tabling New China Strategy

OTTAWA—Canada’s foreign affairs minister says she plans to travel to Asia and elsewhere for some first-hand research before she releases the government’s much-anticipated new policy on China. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly also says she wants to strengthen a Canada-led international convention that condemns arbitrary detention—or hostage diplomacy—so that it has more teeth. Joly told…


Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly Heading to Ukraine Over Russian Troop Concerns

OTTAWA—Canada’s foreign affairs minister is heading to Ukraine amid mounting fears of a Russian invasion. Melanie Joly is to depart Sunday for Kyiv on a weeklong trip that will include stops in Paris and Brussels. Her office says the trip is aimed at underscoring Canada’s unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the…


Canada’s new foreign affairs minister meets in D.C. with U.S. counterpart Blinken

WASHINGTON—Melanie Joly is meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in her first stateside visit as Canada’s new foreign affairs minister. The meeting comes one week before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sits down with President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the White House. Joly is in D.C. to discuss making…


Billions Worth of American Tech Licenses Approved for Blacklisted Chinese Companies

Suppliers to two blacklisted Chinese companies—telecom giant Huawei and China’s top chipmaker SMIC—were approved to receive billions of dollars worth of licenses for U.S. technologies shipments between November and April, documents released by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Oct. 21 detail. Some 301 licenses worth a total of $103 billion were approved for…


US Lawmakers Seek 20 Percent Boost in Foreign Affairs Budget, With Eye on China

WASHINGTON—Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday proposed an increase of $12 billion in the country’s foreign affairs budget, hoping to prod President Joe Biden to boost funding for diplomacy after years of flat spending. Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Ami Bera (D-Calif.) said the 20 percent…


Leaked Government Documents Show How Chinese Regime Tries to Downplay International Crises 

The Epoch Times recently obtained documents from the Chinese government’s foreign affairs offices, unveiling how Beijing handled major incidents involving Chinese citizens abroad or foreign nationals in the mainland. One expert said the documents demonstrate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is mostly concerned about its own image and political interests. Tragic Bus Accident in…


In Praise of Trump Administration Transactional Diplomacy

Commentary Until the Trump administration began its experiment in 21st-century American transactional diplomacy, “intractable international problems” dismayed, vexed, and bamboozled establishment diplomats, whether they hailed from Washington’s Beltway morass, U.N. agencies, or cachet townhouses in European capitals. I specify American transactional diplomacy—meaning negotiating and then concluding two-way deals (bilateral agreements, in diplo-speak) that demonstrably benefit…