Bilateral meetings took place between Canada’s international trade minister, India’s foreign minister and their Southeast Asian counterparts on Thursday in the frame of a regional ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, hosted by Cambodia.
Canada and Vietnam have a long-standing relationship. Together with Minister @FMBuiThanhSon, we discussed our shared goal to enhance trade and investment, and to grow the engagement between Canada, Vietnam, and ASEAN. pic.twitter.com/1frZgvUvtu
— Mary Ng (@mary_ng) August 3, 2022
Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development, Mary Ng, was expected to hold talks on global and regional issues, as well as expanding the scope of cooperation between Canada and ASEAN member states, according to an earlier statement by Canada’s MFA.
Thank you H.E @saifuddinabd and H.E. Amran Bin Mohammed Zin for your leadership as ASEAN country coordinator for Canada. During our meeting, we discussed ways to support safe, prosperous, and sustainable partnerships in the region. pic.twitter.com/7Z7GJGJK11
— Mary Ng (@mary_ng) August 3, 2022
During the meeting, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishanka was looking to set out paths for the ASEAN-India partnership in the coming decade.
Thank PM Hun Sen of Cambodia for receiving me. Conveyed personal greetings of PM @narendramodi.
Appreciated his warm words on our covid cooperation. Discussed enhancing our economic, development, defence and cultural partnership. pic.twitter.com/QY73TEav56
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) August 4, 2022
Another good meeting with @FMBuiThanhSon of Vietnam.
Agreed to keep working to maintain the momentum of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. pic.twitter.com/bZMg1zwrW9
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) August 4, 2022
US opposes any effort to change Taiwan status quo
At another meeting in Phnom Penh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US opposed “any unilateral efforts to change the status quo, especially by force” in the Taiwan Straits. “We remain committed to our one-China policy guided by our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communities and the six assurances. And I want to emphasize that nothing has changed about our position.”
“We and countries around the world believe that escalation… could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests, including ASEAN members, and including China,” Mr Blinken said, adding that the US “reached out to engage our [Chinese] counterparts in recent days at every level of government to convey this message. Maintaining cross-Strait stability is in the interest of all countries in the region, including all of our colleagues within ASEAN.”