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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – While western governments such as Canada and Britain are pushing for more trade ties with Asia, diplomatic ties with Africa are being considered for a downgrade.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan are participating in the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting on Nov. 10 and 11 in Japan. Van Loan will stay for several more days to join Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the APEC Economic Leaders; Meeting scheduled Nov. 13 and 14.

The Japan meeting will discuss measures to continue promoting economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment across the Asia-Pacific region after the global economic crisis.

From Japan, Harper will fly to South Korea to attend the G20 meeting, which will tackle sustaining the economic recovery and avoiding a possible global battle over exchange rates and trade.

However, while aggressively pursuing trade ties with Asia and the Pacific, Ottawa is planning to close some of Canada’s embassies in Africa. According to reports, the embassies slated for closure are in Cameroon, Zambia and Tunisia.

Canada has only 21 embassies out of 53 African nations. Foreign affairs experts said the planned closure of some embassies could be interpreted as Ottawa’s way at getting back at African nations for the latter’s failure to support Canada’s recent bid to win a UN Security Council seat. In the past years, Ottawa shuttered its embassies in Malawi, Gabon, Guinea and South Africa.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – While western governments such as Canada and Britain are pushing for more trade ties with Asia, diplomatic ties with Africa are being considered for a downgrade.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan are participating in the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministerial Meeting on Nov. 10 and 11 in Japan. Van Loan will stay for several more days to join Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the APEC Economic Leaders; Meeting scheduled Nov. 13 and 14.

The Japan meeting will discuss measures to continue promoting economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment across the Asia-Pacific region after the global economic crisis.

From Japan, Harper will fly to South Korea to attend the G20 meeting, which will tackle sustaining the economic recovery and avoiding a possible global battle over exchange rates and trade.

However, while aggressively pursuing trade ties with Asia and the Pacific, Ottawa is planning to close some of Canada’s embassies in Africa. According to reports, the embassies slated for closure are in Cameroon, Zambia and Tunisia.

Canada has only 21 embassies out of 53 African nations. Foreign affairs experts said the planned closure of some embassies could be interpreted as Ottawa’s way at getting back at African nations for the latter’s failure to support Canada’s recent bid to win a UN Security Council seat. In the past years, Ottawa shuttered its embassies in Malawi, Gabon, Guinea and South Africa.

View full post on All Stories