Updated Mon. Apr. 14 2008 2:12 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello are in Beijing Monday on a trade mission, which has drawn criticism from human rights groups and opposition politicians.
Activists had been calling on the politicians to cancel their trip because of China's recent crackdowns in Tibet.
Miller defended his trip, saying Canada has been engaged with China for more than three decades -- a fact that can't be ignored.
"I think the work we're doing is, in the long run, going to do more to spread Canadian values than cancelling our trip would have done," Miller told CTV News on Monday.
Miller said he has raised "appropriate Canadian values about human rights" with Chinese officials.
The mayor met Monday with municipal officials, business leaders and York University alumni, reports the Toronto Star.
At a luncheon with Pupatello and Chinese officials, Miller told an audience his visit has given him a "much deeper understanding of Beijing and China's view that the Olympics should not be used for political purposes."
"I hope and trust that I left an equal impression of the spirit of friendship of Canada and our view that the spirit of the Olympics, which is one of friendship, can be an effective way to introduce dialogue around issues of rights that help address them," he said.
Miller and Pupatello also spent Monday attending the opening of an Ontario trade office in Beijing.
Miller's week-long trip will include stops in Shanghai and Chongqing.
In Toronto, Premier Dalton McGuinty is set to meet with a senior Chinese official at Toronto's Westin Harbour Castle.
About 40 human rights activists and members of Toronto's Tibetan community gathered outside the hotel at about 11 a.m. to protest the luncheon.
They held up signs and chanted, hoping to catch McGuinty's attention.
One protester called McGuinty's actions "insensitive", particularly because Toronto has the third largest Tibetan community in the world after India and Nepal.
"It's really not appropriate for our premier to be meeting with a Chinese government official right now, " said Tsering Lama. "We have relatives inside of Tibet that are dying and that are suffering.
"This is an extremely sensitive time for us and the Premier is showing incredible insensitivity by doing this right now," she said.
Activists are also planning a week-long sit-in at the Ontario legislature to protest the Liberal government's support of China.
Opposition parties have been criticizing the McGuinty government for trying to hide its meetings with China.
With a report from CTV Toronto's John Musselman
CTV.ca | Toronto mayor defends trade trip to China
