Canada-China Relations Committee on Feb. 12th, 2024

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Yes, Canada and Japan are responsible members of the G7 and the international forum, and we're also members of TPP. We share a lot. We share a common interest. There are so many needs down there, so to speak, in the global south countries. We can work together, and we do have the willingness and the resources here to help them out.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

I'll put on record, Mr. Yamanouchi, that I don't think Canada has any more like-minded, friendly partner than Japan. Thank you, and I hope you take that message back to Japan immediately, to Tokyo.

Thank you.

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Thank you very much. I certainly will.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Thank you, Mr. Oliphant.

We'll now go to Mr. Bergeron.

You have two and a half minutes, sir.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to return to the conversation the ambassador and I were having earlier. I am confident that many people will take note of what Mr. Oliphant just stated.

Mr. Ambassador, at the very end, you mentioned that Canada and Japan are both in support of Taiwan joining international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Do you think Taiwan and the People's Republic of China meet the conditions for membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership?

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Wow. Those are very good final questions about CPTPP, my favourite subject.

I think that CPTPP is a very important vehicle not only for free trade but also for addressing security matters, and Canada and Japan are leading the CPTPP. This year, 2024, Canada is the chair. We have three major targets for CPTPP this year. One is about new membership. The second is about the review of existing procedure and these things, and the third.... I forgot the third one.

Anyway, in regard to new membership, regardless of aspirant economies, there are three things that are very important. Those aspirant economies need to keep up with the high standard. Second, they have to have the right track record in the past. Third, we have to have consensus to support their new membership. That is a very important element for new membership.

I will respectfully avoid making any specific comment on each specific nation or the economies, but that is an important element for CPTPP in order for CPTPP to play a key role in the international community.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Now to close us off, we'll go to Ms. McPherson for two and a half minutes.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Again, thank you very much for your comments today, Your Excellency.

You spoke a little bit about the international development initiatives that Japan and Canada can work on together. When you spoke about that, you talked about it within the Indo-Pacific region. I think Mr. Oliphant referenced Africa. We know that China has quite huge ambitions with regard to their belt and road initiative.

As Canada and Japan work on international initiatives, particularly around sustainable development goals in other areas in the world aside from the Indo-Pacific, do you see other areas of the world where we could work together?

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Regarding Africa, I think it was in 1993 that the Japanese government started an initiative called TICAD. That stands for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. We started the leaders' meetings between Japan and Africa—more than 50 countries—once every five years. Recently, we sort of elevated it to the next stage. Every three years we have a leaders' meeting on the TICAD initiative. That is specifically to help African countries develop.

When we started in 1993, we talked a lot about development assistance from the public sector. Nowadays, there's a lot of talk about the private sector. The ODA money is very important. That could be seed money for official development assistance, but investment by private companies has a huge impact.

Now we're talking about a combination between the official government assistance and, at the same time, private sector involvement. Africa is the continent of the future. More and more Japanese companies are paying attention. When it comes to the government side, Canada and Japan can share a lot. After all, Africa is so far away from Japan, but across the Atlantic Ocean, you have Africa over there. Therefore, you have more knowledge and more contacts. We can work together.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

It's still a little ways away from us.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Thank you, Ms. McPherson.

Your Excellency, thank you for the generosity of your time and your comments this evening. We've thoroughly enjoyed your visit with us. Your reflections, I'm sure, will show up very well in the report that we'll be tabling in our Parliament in due course.

With that, we will suspend and get set up for our next panel.

I have one other thing. Before you go—

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

May I say a final word?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Yes, absolutely.

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Thank you is not strong enough to express my feelings towards this Canadian Parliament in supporting Canada-Japan relations and also our embassy here in Ottawa. I would say thank you very much.

Arigato gozaimasu and merci beaucoup tonight.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

We all know arigato, but what was response to arigato?

[Kanji Yamanouchi]

Douitashimashite.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

There we are. Thank you.

We'll suspend.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

I call the meeting back to order.

We are back in session, and we appreciate our next guests' patience with us. We ran a little over. The Ambassador of Japan was fascinating, and we let him go on at some length with some of his commentary because it was very valuable to us.

That said, we will probably need to be a bit more on time with some of our questioning now, so that we can finish in time for our support staff here to have the rest of their evening.

Welcome back. I'd like to welcome our witnesses for the second panel.

Shihoko Goto is the director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and she's with us by video conference. Also by video conference, we have Yuki Tatsumi, co-director of the east Asia program at the Henry L. Stimson Center.

We will start with you, Ms. Goto, for a five-minute opening statement.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

On a point of order, before we begin, we're just wondering whether our witness from the third round is available or unavailable, because we had a cancellation. Having one person in a third hour, we may be able to do an hour and a half instead of two hours, if he happens to be available.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

Yes, that is something that—

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

I know. I should have mentioned that two hours ago, but we're just looking at that and thinking that one person for a whole hour seems long because we have that cancellation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken Hardie]

I think what we'll probably do, Mr. Oliphant, is just do two rounds and call it at two rounds.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Sure. Okay.