Posted AT 7:54 PM EST ON 15/11/06
PM says he won't sell out human rights
SCOTT DEVEAU and BRIAN LAGHI
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061115.wchina1115/BNStory/National/home
TORONTO and ANCHORAGE ― Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he won't sell out on human rights, even if it means sacrificing a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao that could be good for business.
“I don't think we've done anything unusual, other than the vigorous promotion of Canadian values and interests,” Mr. Harper said on his government aircraft on his way to Vietnam for a meeting of APEC.”
China delivered the diplomatic snub to the Canadian government earlier this week when Mr. Hu rejected a meeting with Mr. Harper, adding to an increasingly chilly relationship between the two countries.
“I think Canadians want us to promote our trade relations worldwide. We do that,” Mr. Harper said Wednesday. “But I don't think Canadians want us to sell out our values, our beliefs in democracy, freedom and human rights. They don't want us to sell that out to the almighty dollar.”
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But, Mr. Harper's confrontational stance is not the tack former Liberal minister of international trade and current president Canada China Business Council Sergio Marchi said he would recommend the PM take.
“What we want is for cooler heads to prevail and for our respective leaders to find a way and the time, and hopefully before they leave the APEC meeting in Vietnam, to have engaged one another,” Mr. Marchi said. “A relationship between the two men at the top has to be built and that's absolutely crucial.”
He said having dealt with China both politically and in business, once you establish a trusting relationship amongst leaders that that would trickle downward.
“It's not a situation that Mr. Harper shouldn't be talking about human rights,” Mr. Marchi said. “When you don't have a relationship, when it hasn't been raised between the two men, and the Chinese hear about just the human rights side of the ledger, then I'm afraid we run the risk of them interpreting it as a lecture or an attempt to embarrass them.”
But the current Opposition placed the blame for the snub squarely on the Tories' “juvenile” approach to its foreign policy.
“This snub by the Chinese is really in response to the new Conservative government's repeated snubs against China,” Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Keith Martin said in an interview Wednesday.
Mr. Harper had tried to set up a meeting with Mr. Hu this week ahead of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation conference that opens in Hanoi. It would have been the first substantive meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Harper took office, although they did have a brief chat at the Group of Eight summit last summer.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Harper wouldn't say Tuesday whether Canada considers the rejection an insult and did not say what reason the Chinese gave for not meeting with the Prime Minister.
Beijing has been a virtual revolving door for diplomats looking to share in China's booming economy ― even Thailand's coup leader was there earlier this month. But, the decision comes amid cooling bilateral relations as Canada takes a harder line on China's human rights record.
Mr. Martin accused the Tories of making several diplomatic blunders towards the Chinese, who are Canada's second largest trading partner behind the U.S., including waiting to meet with ambassadors from that country, having a Tory MP meet with the Dalai Lama, and until this fall, having none of his minister visit China.
Business groups have also complained about a lack of engagement, expressing concern that the two countries' economic relationship could be harmed.
More recently, Canadian officials confirmed that they are debating whether to proceed with an annual “human-rights dialogue.” The Tory caucus has been more critical of Chinese rights abuses and of the Chinese position on Taiwan.
“We all recognize that China has huge human rights issues, but you have two choices: you can disengage and throw stones from afar and have zero effect on what they do. Or you can engage the Chinese and, over time, have an effect on their human rights.”
“It speaks to a larger new foreign policy by this Conservative government, which is to primarily to focus on Canada-U.S. relations and ignore the rest of the world,” Mr. Martin said, adding that it is evidenced by the Tories turning their backs on their Kyoto commitments, for which Environment Minster Rona Ambrose is feeling the heat in Nairobi this week at a UN summit on climate change.
“It's a juvenile approach to foreign policy that this Conservative government has,” Mr. Martin said.
PM says he won't sell out human rights
SCOTT DEVEAU and BRIAN LAGHI
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061115.wchina1115/BNStory/National/home
TORONTO and ANCHORAGE ― Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday he won't sell out on human rights, even if it means sacrificing a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao that could be good for business.
“I don't think we've done anything unusual, other than the vigorous promotion of Canadian values and interests,” Mr. Harper said on his government aircraft on his way to Vietnam for a meeting of APEC.”
China delivered the diplomatic snub to the Canadian government earlier this week when Mr. Hu rejected a meeting with Mr. Harper, adding to an increasingly chilly relationship between the two countries.
“I think Canadians want us to promote our trade relations worldwide. We do that,” Mr. Harper said Wednesday. “But I don't think Canadians want us to sell out our values, our beliefs in democracy, freedom and human rights. They don't want us to sell that out to the almighty dollar.”
Related to this article
But, Mr. Harper's confrontational stance is not the tack former Liberal minister of international trade and current president Canada China Business Council Sergio Marchi said he would recommend the PM take.
“What we want is for cooler heads to prevail and for our respective leaders to find a way and the time, and hopefully before they leave the APEC meeting in Vietnam, to have engaged one another,” Mr. Marchi said. “A relationship between the two men at the top has to be built and that's absolutely crucial.”
He said having dealt with China both politically and in business, once you establish a trusting relationship amongst leaders that that would trickle downward.
“It's not a situation that Mr. Harper shouldn't be talking about human rights,” Mr. Marchi said. “When you don't have a relationship, when it hasn't been raised between the two men, and the Chinese hear about just the human rights side of the ledger, then I'm afraid we run the risk of them interpreting it as a lecture or an attempt to embarrass them.”
But the current Opposition placed the blame for the snub squarely on the Tories' “juvenile” approach to its foreign policy.
“This snub by the Chinese is really in response to the new Conservative government's repeated snubs against China,” Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Keith Martin said in an interview Wednesday.
Mr. Harper had tried to set up a meeting with Mr. Hu this week ahead of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation conference that opens in Hanoi. It would have been the first substantive meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Harper took office, although they did have a brief chat at the Group of Eight summit last summer.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Harper wouldn't say Tuesday whether Canada considers the rejection an insult and did not say what reason the Chinese gave for not meeting with the Prime Minister.
Beijing has been a virtual revolving door for diplomats looking to share in China's booming economy ― even Thailand's coup leader was there earlier this month. But, the decision comes amid cooling bilateral relations as Canada takes a harder line on China's human rights record.
Mr. Martin accused the Tories of making several diplomatic blunders towards the Chinese, who are Canada's second largest trading partner behind the U.S., including waiting to meet with ambassadors from that country, having a Tory MP meet with the Dalai Lama, and until this fall, having none of his minister visit China.
Business groups have also complained about a lack of engagement, expressing concern that the two countries' economic relationship could be harmed.
More recently, Canadian officials confirmed that they are debating whether to proceed with an annual “human-rights dialogue.” The Tory caucus has been more critical of Chinese rights abuses and of the Chinese position on Taiwan.
“We all recognize that China has huge human rights issues, but you have two choices: you can disengage and throw stones from afar and have zero effect on what they do. Or you can engage the Chinese and, over time, have an effect on their human rights.”
“It speaks to a larger new foreign policy by this Conservative government, which is to primarily to focus on Canada-U.S. relations and ignore the rest of the world,” Mr. Martin said, adding that it is evidenced by the Tories turning their backs on their Kyoto commitments, for which Environment Minster Rona Ambrose is feeling the heat in Nairobi this week at a UN summit on climate change.
“It's a juvenile approach to foreign policy that this Conservative government has,” Mr. Martin said.
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