CAWG Currents 6.1 (1984)

This issue is a submission to the Canadian government on human rights violations in the Philippines. It reports on the Aquino assassination, the arrests of political opponents and activists, forced evacuation of villages, and political murders.

Currents Vol 6 No 1 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 5.3 (1983)

This issue comprises a special report on the International Ecumenical Conference on the Philippines. The entire issue touches on the economic, political and social issues pertinent to the Philippines. It includes reports on the development of the Church, the problem of transnational corporations and sweatshops, military presence and repression, political prisoners, and poverty and the rights of landless labourers. It also touches on cultural issues, such as the state of education and literacy rates, the displacement of ethnic minorities, women’s rights, the state of the health sector, and media censorship by the Marcos dictatorship. It concludes with CAWG’s summary recommendations.

Currents Vol 5 No 3 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 5.2 (1983)

This issue includes reports on political issues, including President Reagan’s visit to South East Asian dictators, South Korean and Philippine nuclear development programs, Sri Lankan political repression, and South Korea’s opposition to diplomacy on human rights issues. In addition, articles also focus on war deaths in East Timor, human rights abuses in Thailand, the migration and rights of workers in Thailand, and Church repression in the Philippines.

Currents Vol 5 No 2 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 4.2 (1982)

This issue contains a broad array of articles touching on human rights issues in South East Asia. It includes the jailing of a Presbyterian official in Taiwan, travel restrictions in East Timor, political prisoners in Thailand, political repression in Philippines, and capital punishment in Malaysia. It also touches on economic rights and development, reporting on Sri Lankan plantation labourers, labour protests in South Korea, agricultural and land rights, and IMF and WB aid to the Philippines.

Currents Vol 4 No 2 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 4.1 (1982)

In this issue, CAWG devotes its pages to human rights and development issues in the Philippines and South Korea. For the Philippines, it contains general comments on human rights, as well as in-depth reports on missing people, mass killings, restrictions of meetings and protests, censorship, repression of the activities of the Church. It also explains the protest of Canadian churches against nuclear deals between Canada and South Korea.

Currents Vol 4 No 1 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 3.3 (1981)

This short issue reports on the nuclear development relationship between Canada and South East Asia, as well as labour rights in the region generally. It also contains articles pertaining to country-specific issues, including political turmoil in Sri Lanka and Canadian-Philippine political relations.

Currents Vol 3, No 3 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 3.2 (1981)

This issue is devoted to human rights issues and development in South Korea, comprising a submission to the Canadian Ambassador for the 37th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It examines Korean economic development, labour rights, and women’s economic rights. It also contains reports on military repression, arrests and torture, journalism and mail censorship, the restriction of meetings, and the conditions and work of missionaries in Korea.

Currents Vol 3 No 2 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 3.1 (1981)

This issue focuses on economic development in South East Asia. It contains articles pertaining to labour rights and outsourcing in the electronics industry, Malaysian economic development, outsourcing to South East Asia in general. It also includes missing lists for Indonesia. The issue concludes with a CAWG brief on Korea, touching on economic protests, restrictions on the media, trade unions, persecution of the Christian Church, and UN reviews of human rights in Korea.

Currents Vol 3 No 1 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 2.2 (1980)

In this issue, CAWG reports on the South Korean deal with Rio Algom, human rights protests by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the Kwangju incident in South Korea, and assistance to poor in Tibet, Nepal and East Timor. It also contains reports on economic issues in South East Asia, including outsourcing, US-South Korea relations, economic and labour rights in the Philippines, and foreign volags in Thailand.

Currents Vol 2 No 2 by SarahZwierzchowski

CAWG Currents 1.2 (1979)

CAWG's newsletter Canada Asia Currents began publication in 1979. Volume 1 number 2 (1979) contains articles and reports on human rights development issues in the South East Asian region. It includes reports on Canadian-Philippine economic relations, the treatment of Japanese protesters, militarization in Korea, the treatment of political prisoners in Indonesia, a famine in Vietnam and Taiwan’s child labor problem.

Currents Vol 1 No 2 by SarahZwierzchowski

The project

The role of religion cannot be overlooked in international affairs. From the great Christian missionary enterprise to Asia in the 19th century, in which Canadians played a major role, to the “clash of civilizations” rhetoric that informs today’s “war on terror,” relations between states and societies have been deeply informed by religious flows, currents and clashes. Scholars are paying increasing attention internationally to the role of non-state actors, including religious organizations, in historical and contemporary foreign policy. Meanwhile, Canada’s relations with Asia in the political, economic, and social fields are more and more important. This informs a growing area of study about the history of Canada-Asia interactions.

This project addresses the role of Canadian churches in shaping Canadian foreign relations, especially with Asia. Did Canadian churches have their own “Asia policy” distinct from the Canadian government? If so, how did it interact with state policy? Without seeing the place of religious organizations in Canada’s foreign relations, we cannot come to a full understanding of Canada’s place in the world. 

Two Canadian church coalitions illustrate these themes in Canada-Asia relations: the Canada China Programme and the Canada Asia Working Group. They were proactive, autonomous foreign policy actors occupying a space between Canadian churches, the Canadian government, and Asian partner organizations who themselves had shifting relations with their own governments. A study of these organizations contributes to our understanding of non-state influences on foreign policy and the interplay of religion and international relations history.