Harper visits The Great Wall, calls it ‘unbelievable’
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and wife Laureen visits the Great Wall of China at Badaling in Beijing, China on Thursday, December 3, 2009. (CP)
CP – “Unbelievable”. That’s how Prime Minister Harper described the Great Wall of China today during a walk with his wife Lauren and a flank of Canadian officials.
The outing, about 90 minutes outside Beijing, came prior to key meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and dinner with Premier Wen Jiabao.
Harper is hoping the meetings will cement a stronger relationship between the two governments that has been described in both countries as cool to icy.
On Wednesday, the prime minister told reporters he still intends to bring up issues of human rights, although his language was interpreted in the Chinese media as more respectful than in the past.
Harper said he wants to improve opportunities for Canadian businesses, noting the Chinese market continues to expand robustly even as the rest of the world struggles.
Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, left, talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. Harper is on the four-day trip to Beijing on Wednesday for what Chinese experts are touting as a fence-mending trip to repair ties damaged by Ottawa. (AP)
I saw yesterday’s news that the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang demanded the repatriation of China’s most wanted fugitive, Lai Changxing