NEW PROGRAM TO STUDY EMERGING SECURITY ISSUES IN ASIA PACIFIC<p>

NEW PROGRAM TO STUDY EMERGING SECURITY ISSUES IN ASIA PACIFIC

TORONTO, May 29, 1997 -- While the economic prosperity of some Asia Pacific countries seems assured, researchers must now concentrate on addressing the key security issues emerging in the region, according to the director of a new program on Asia Pacific Security Studies.

York University professor Paul Evans, former director of the Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Toronto and York University, said he and participating colleagues at the Centre for International and Security Studies at York University and the Institute of International Relations at the University of British Columbia are very grateful to the Max Bell Foundation for donating $115,000 in support of a three-year program on Asia Pacific Security Studies.

The studies which the grant will support include:

work on conflict reduction on the Korean peninsula;

promoting maritime cooperation in East and Southeast Asia;

building confidence and trust among former rivals in Asia Pacific;

assessing the dimensions and control of trans-national criminal activity in the region.

"Despite its economic dynamism, Asian Pacific countries face a number of serious security concerns. This grant will help the Canadian players in this field to contribute to an innovative trans-Pacific network intended to promote dialogue and research on several key regional security issues," said Evans. "Canada has played a key role in the search for a new security order in the Pacific. With support from the federal government and the Max Bell Foundation, we are now in a position to play a sustained role which will benefit both the region and Canadian researchers, especially scholars from the emerging generation," he added.

The award will support the educational activities of the Canadian Consortium on Asia Pacific Security (CANCAPS), a group of about 100 researchers based at institutions across Canada, and the Canadian Member Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific (CSCAP.) Both institutions have been receiving core support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade over the past three years and will be raising matching funds for the grant from governmental and private sector sources.

These educational activities include a publication series, a quarterly bulletin, the preparation of an annual "Canadian Perspectives on the Asia Pacific Security Outlook," the creation of a website, and national research conferences.

The program will strengthen co-operation among the three universities in promoting policy-relevant research and improving public understanding of Canadian involvement with Asia Pacific security issues.

The Max Bell Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation which funds innovative projects nationwide in three fields: health; veterinary science and education; and Canada and the Asia Pacific Region.

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For more information, please contact:

Paul Evans
Joint Centre for Asia Pacific Studies
York University
(416) 736-5784

David Dewitt
York University Centre for International and Security Studies
(416) 736-5156

Brian Job
Institute of International Relations
University of British Columbia
(604) 822-4687
YU/053/97

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