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.
![Launch of the China Studies Group on 232 April 2024 at York University](https://www.yorku.ca/research/ycar/wp-content/uploads/sites/783/2024/05/china-studies-group-launch-23042024-1024x768.jpg)
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.