On April 23, 2024, 15 York University researchers gathered on the Keele campus to launch a new research cluster, the China Studies Group within the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR). Other attendees from York University included Vinitha Gengatharan, Assistant Vice-President, Global Engagement & Partnerships, and Helen Balderama, Director of Global Engagement Programs & Partnerships. Susan Hough, representative of the Centre for China Policy Research, Global Affairs Canada, also participated in the meeting.
The China Studies Group will provide a platform for colleagues with a broad interest in China Studies to share their research, exchange funding information, and develop synergies. The creation of such a network is particularly critical at this time when the research environment has become increasingly complicated and access to data increasingly restricted for scholars of China.
YCAR now has research clusters focusing on China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaya, the Philippines, and South Asia. This research structure aligns well with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (which stresses engagement with China, India, the North Pacific, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the region), and places YCAR in a competitive position for the funding envelopes in the Indo-Pacific Engagement Initiative.