Canada through the eyes of Southeast Asia: positive perceptions, shallow understandings

ABSTRACT

As Canada looks to deepen its ties with Southeast Asia, it needs to gain public support from the region. But how do ordinary Southeast Asians view Canada? Using original survey data from social media users in seven Southeast Asian countries, I find that Southeast Asians generally have a positive impression of Canada. However, they do not have a clear understanding of Canada, or of its current and potential engagement in Southeast Asia. There are also significant variations in perceptions of Canada from country to country, which may be correlated to the degree of democratic development in each country. These findings have implications for the implementation of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. First, Southeast Asians’ favorable disposition towards Canada is encouraging. It suggests that Southeast Asians are receptive to fostering closer ties with Canada. Second, the cross-national variation indicates that engagements with individual Southeast Asian countries, including public diplomacy efforts, can and should be tailored accordingly, as opposed to untargeted regional engagement.

RÉSUMÉ

Alors que le Canada cherche à approfondir ses liens avec l'Asie du Sud-Est, il doit obtenir le soutien de l'opinion publique de la région. Mais comment les Asiatiques ordinaires du Sud-Est perçoivent-ils le Canada ? En utilisant des données d'enquêtes originales provenant d'utilisateurs de médias sociaux dans sept pays d'Asie du Sud-Est, je constate que les Asiatiques du Sud-Est ont généralement une perception positive du Canada. Cependant ils n'ont pas une compréhension très claire du Canada ni de son engagement actuel et potentiel en Asie du Sud-Est. Il existe également des variations significatives dans les perceptions du Canada d'un pays à l'autre, qui peuvent être corrélées au degré de développement démocratique dans chacun de ces pays. Ces conclusions ont des implications pour la mise en œuvre de la stratégie indopacifique du Canada. Premièrement, la disposition favorable des Asiatiques du Sud-Est à l'égard du Canada est encourageante. Elle suggère que les Asiatiques du Sud-Est sont disposés à favoriser des liens plus étroits avec le Canada. Deuxièmement, la variation transnationale indique que les engagements avec les différents pays d'Asie du Sud-Est, y compris les efforts de diplomatie publique, peuvent et doivent être adaptés en conséquence, par opposition à un engagement régional non ciblé.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• Southeast Asia
• foreign policy
• public opinion
• soft power

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This study focused on six countries in Asia: China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam.

2 The sample does not include Brunei, Cambodia, and Laos, primarily due to their lower rates of engagement with Canada, as well as their smaller population sizes.

3 As a robustness check, I re-run my analysis without the weights to ensure that the results do not diverge too widely.

4 This proportion was considerably higher in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, which is not surprising given their higher levels of development. 60, 40, and 51 per cent of respondents from Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand respectively, indicated that they did not know if Canada provides their countries with developmental assistance. Top selections include economic development, education, and health.

5 The question was phrased as “In your opinion, to what extent do you think Canada can play an effective role in supporting [country]’s human security efforts (for example, efforts at counter-terrorism, or managing cross-border illegal trafficking)?”

6 Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas for example, holds a 25 per cent stake in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Kitimat, British Columbia – the second largest holdings after Shell Canada. Singapore-based Agrocorp has invested $50 million in Canada in the last three years, establishing two agri-food processing plants in Saskatchewan.

7 The priority sectors identified in the Indo-Pacific Strategy are: (1) Aerospace and defence, (2) ICT, (3) Extractives, (4) Infrastructure, (5) Clean technology, (6) Agriculture and agri-food and (7) Education.

8 Having a personal connection with Canada is defined as having interacted with a Canadian organization, personally knowing a Canadian, and/or knowing another person who has lived, worked, or studied in Canada.

9 In contrast, only 5 per cent of respondents have ever visited Canada.

10 In 2020, there were more than 35,000 students from the ASEAN region studying in Canada.

11 The proportion who disagreed is significantly higher in Singapore (30 per cent) and to a lesser degree in Malaysia (15 per cent). In Singapore, Canada competes with more popular countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which are conventionally viewed as more prestigious compared to countries like Australia and Canada.

12 This is a view that has been put forward by the Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy as well (Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy, 2012).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Isabel Chew

Isabel Chew is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia.