I would speak to one particular example close to my heart. I think Canada has had a very important, long-standing, meaningful relationship with the people and the Government of Mongolia. That country came out of the Cold War as a kind of hard authoritarian state, evolving into a very vibrant democracy but one in a small country with some economic constraints—not least of which is being surrounded by two countries with a very different view of politics and of accountability to their people. Over the years, Canada has been able to work very closely with a partner like Mongolia.
I would say that the example Mongolia provides, the evolution towards democracy Taiwan provides and the examples places like the Philippines provide I think give lie to the fairly facile thesis that economic development in Asia can only happen in the context of authoritarian hard-state polities. That's just not the case. We've seen incredible growth stories across the region from very diverse governments. We engage with all of them, but we very much engage to reinforce those that are accountable to their own people. That makes them much easier for us to work with in a broad range of interests.
