China and the Indo-Pacific Strategy

OPENING REMARKS

Daniel HOLTON

Director, Centre for China Policy Research, Global Affairs Canada

Daniel Holton was recently appointed Director of the newly-created Centre for China Policy Research at Global Affairs Canada. Prior to this role, Daniel led the development and launch of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy as Head of the Indo-Pacific Secretariat. Daniel served abroad most recently as Counsellor for Political, Economic and Public Affairs at the High Commission of Canada in India with concurrent accreditation to Nepal and Bhutan. His previous assignments abroad include positions at the Embassy of Canada in China and the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. At headquarters, Daniel has served as Departmental Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Director of Parliamentary Affairs, and in multiple roles covering Canada’s relations with mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

MODERATOR

Jia WANG

Interim Director, China Institute, University of Alberta

Jia Wang is currently the Interim Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, where she manages research, programs, and government and media relations since 2011. Jia has over 15 years of direct management experience focusing on the economic and political dimensions of contemporary China and Canada-China relations in various capacities. At the China Institute, in addition to overseeing the operations, she leads policy research initiatives examining Canada's diplomatic, trade, investment and energy linkages with China. Jia also provides strategic and policy advice on China to University senior leaders as well as executives at public and private sector organizations. She is a frequent media commentator, speaker and moderator at community, national and international events.

PANELISTS

Gordon HOULDEN

Director Emeritus, China Institute, University of Alberta

Professor Gordon Houlden is Director Emeritus of the China Institute, Professor of Political Science and Adjunct Professor of the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta.

Professor Houlden joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1976, serving in Ottawa and abroad. Twenty-two of his thirty-two years in the Canadian Foreign Service were spent working on Chinese economic, trade and political affairs for the Government of Canada including five postings in China. He also served at Canadian Embassy in Havana and Warsaw, and at Canada National Defence College. His last assignment before joining the University of Alberta in 2008 was as Director General of the East Asian Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, responsible for Greater China, Japan, the Koreas and Mongolia.

Under Professor Houlden’s leadership, the China Institute focused on contemporary China studies, with an emphasis on Canada’s trade, investment and bilateral relations with the PRC, and Asian security issues. His third co-edited book on the South China Sea was published in the summer of 2021 by Bristol University Press.

Phil CALVERT

Senior Fellow, China Institute, University of Alberta

Philip Calvert is a Senior Fellow with the China Institute of the University of Alberta and a Senior

Research Associate with the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives at the University of Victoria. He served in Beijing as a Trade Commissioner (1984-87), Economic Counsellor (1994-1997) and Minister & Deputy Head of Mission (2004-2008). In Global Affairs Canada he served as Director General for North Asia, Deputy Chief Negotiator for Canada during China's accession to the WTO and as Director of the Technical Barriers to Trade Division.   From 2012 to 2016 he was Canada's ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. In the past few years he has participated in several Track Two Canada-China discussions led by the China Institute. His most recent articles are Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and Canada-China Relations (China Institute, University of Alberta, February 2 2023), and “Canadian diplomacy in Southeast Asia: challenges for the coming decades”, (Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, March 18 2023).

Shaun NARINE

Professor, International Relations, St. Thomas University

Shaun Narine is a professor of international relations at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. His research is focused on institutions in the Asia Pacific region (especially ASEAN) and Canadian foreign policy. He has written two books on ASEAN and numerous papers and articles on a variety of issues. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto. He has been a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of BC, a visiting fellow at the East-West Center, and a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies/Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

Ron HOFFMANN

Vice President, Business Development, SixRing Inc.

Ron Hoffmann joined Calgary-based bio industrial tech firm SixRing Inc. in the fall of 2021, following more than 35 years of diverse professional experience, including leadership positions in Canada’s diplomatic service, and federal and provincial governments. As a Canadian diplomat Ron has served in six countries spanning four continents, with extensive experience in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. His roles including Senior Trade Commissioner, Director General of Strategic Policy, Director of Defense and Security Policy, and Senior Advisor to two Canadian foreign ministers.

Since 2014 Ron has served Alberta as Senior Representative to Asia based in Hong Kong, and then as Interim CEO and then COO of Invest Alberta tasked with standing up the corporation in its initial year and supporting several major new investments into the province, including in various energy sub-sectors. While based in Hong Kong, Ron was elected Vice Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce from 2015-2019. He is a frequent commentator and lecturer on foreign policy, international affairs and government.