Since taking office in 2015, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has yet to occupy 24 Sussex Drive, his official residence (and childhood home). Beset by wonky electrical and plumbing systems, and an asbestos-plagued interior, the 19th-century Ottawa home is in critical condition due to chronic underfunding, says a new report from the National Capital Commission, a government-owned corporation for planning and development. And Trudeau, recognising that citizens would surely bemoan the use of taxpayer dollars, has proved reluctant to spend the CA$83m (€55m) needed to knock 24 Sussex, and Canada’s five other official residences, into shape. But with diplomatic relations around the globe in flux, and Canada looking to diversify its trading partners, the prime minister needs an appropriate residence to entertain foreign visitors — and he shouldn’t have to apologise for it.

Taiwan’s fraught relationship with China could escalate considerably tomorrow, with nationalists in Taipei planning to stage a huge rally to demand separation from Beijing. The organisers hope that as many as 100,000 Taiwanese will attend the demonstration, making it the largest since the self-governed island embraced democracy more than two decades ago. However, Isabel Hilton, editor of bilingual news website China Dialogue, cautions that any serious attempt to hold a vote on full-blown autonomy will provoke an equally serious response from across the Taiwan Strait. She tells Monocle: “The push for independence has coincided with the rise of president Xi Jinping. He’s a nationalist and China now feels confident enough to assert its ambitions. The biggest ambition for any leader of China is to reclaim Taiwan.” Indeed, officials in Beijing have warned that the country’s military will respond with force if Taiwan attempts to secede from the mainland.