PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER TO TRAVEL TO CHINA

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he will visit China from December 2 to 6.

“Our two countries enjoy a growing partnership, sharing significant interests in trade and investment, the environment and regional security,” said the Prime Minister. “Canada is committed to a strong relationship with China that reflects our mutual respect and the need for practical cooperation.”

The Prime Minister’s visit follows 18 ministerial-level visits to China since 2006. This year, Canada is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of a Trade Commissioner Service office in Shanghai. In June 2008, Canada announced that six new trade offices would be opened in China. Two are operational in Shenzhen and Chengdu. The remaining four in Shenyang, Qingdao, Nanjing and Wuhan are expected to be opened by the end of this year. In 2010, Canada will celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations with China.

China has one of the world’s fastest growing economies. It is Canada’s third largest export destination after the United States and the United Kingdom. The strength of ties between the two countries is also reflected in the estimated 1.2 million Canadians of Chinese origin and the more than 42,000 Chinese students who are currently studying in Canada.

Related posts

• Photos – ADS signed (1)
• Transcript – Hu Jintao meets Harper (0)
• Hu Jintao receives maple syrup from Harper (5)
• Canada’s big right turn? (8)
• A tale of two dictators (1)

It’s glad to see the government is catching up. My only hope is that it isn’t too late when China’s economic growth is also shrinking and given the poor relationship we have had with China in the last few years. Look at France. China’s premier Wen Jiabao skipped France in his recent visit to Europe, in which China signed billions and billions worth of projects with the UK, Germany etc. France’s relationship with China turned sour in last year’s Olympic Torch Run and Paris mayor’s insistence on meeting the Dalai Lama.

It’ll be very interesting to see what the Tories will react when the Dalai Lama visits Canada laster this year.

The feds are probably preparing the stage for bettering relationship with China lately, including a recent FM Lawrence Cannon’s statement to commend China’s improvements on human rights.

One interesting observation today, apart from the report released earlier by the Fraser Institute urging for more trade with China,  is that a pro-Tory Chinese radio phone-in show today widely opens up its airwaves to pro-China comments, including those from frequent callers whose voices have always been pro-Tory (there’re a few names that I can recall off head who call in almost everyday, to every show).

From London Free Press:

Harper boosts trade ties with Americans, Chinese

- The Conservative government is bolstering Canada’s trade ties with China as it tries to beat back the protectionist threat that could slow the flow of goods with the U.S.

…But as Harper worked to raise Canada’s profile in the U.S., key Conservative ministers unveiled plans to open six new trade offices in China “very shortly.”

“We will be indeed not only increasing our presence in China, but we will also be increasing our presence in Asia,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.

Trade Minister Stockwell Day is planning a trade mission to Beijing designed to open doors to new trade and build on a $2-billion investment on the Asia-Pacific Gateway.

Liberal MP Bob Rae accused the Conservatives of failing to engage the emerging economic power because a “few ideological enthusiasts” are taking over Canada-China policy.

“Does the prime minister and the minister not realize how serious a mistake this is with respect to building that relationship?” he said.

And what does China say? It’s interesting to note from the following Xinhua reports that suddenly doing business with China is “the top foreign policy goal by the Conservative government”. So the almighty dollar doesnt’ matter any more?

Canadian FM defends government policy on China

Xinhua - Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday that his country’s relations with China were “not strained at all” while opposition Liberals called for repairing “the damage done by the government to the relationship.”

“Canada’s one-China policy has not been changed.” Cannon, who was appointed as foreign minister last October, told Xinhua Monday evening after delivering a speech on foreign policy in Rideau Club, a meeting center in the capital city Ottawa.

“I don’t view our relations as being strained at all, as a matter of fact I view them as being good and mature,” said Cannon when asked about his evaluation of the current Canada-China relations.

“We certainly feel that we need to better frame issues dealing with human rights,” he said. “Other than that I don’t see anything upsetting our relations.”

Earlier in the day, the opposition Liberal Party said the ruling Conservatives’ mismanagement of Canada-China relations was “hurting Canada’s economy.”

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper must reach out to China directly and try to repair the damage he and his government have done to this important diplomatic and economic relationship,” said Bob Rae, Foreign Affairs Critic of the party, in a press release.

Liberal International Trade Critic Scott Brison said that during the first two years of Conservative government (2006 and 2007), Canada’s exports to China “stagnated,” “barely keeping pace in proportion to China’s import growth.”

“In comparison, the United States increased its trade with China by 60 percent over those same years, far outpacing the growth of Chinese global imports and increasing their share of the Chinese market,” he said.

Last week, Harper’s former Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson publicly called for Canada to “be more deeply engaged with China” and confirmed there were deep divisions within the Conservative government regarding how to deal with Beijing, according to the release.

However, in his speech, Cannon said Canada was committed to pursuing “enormous commercial opportunities” in China, and would open six new trade offices there to help Canadian companies.

The initiative, part of a broader Asian strategy, is a top foreign policy goal by the Conservative government, Cannon noted.

“We will be paying special attention to Asia’s emerging markets,” Cannon said. “Asia has emerged as a major driving force in the global economy.”

In his speech, Cannon also noted that the Harper administration gave its top priority to strengthening ties with the United States, Canada’s largest trading partner. The other issues included the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the pursuit of trade opportunities combined with fostering democracy in Latin America, and promoting Arctic sovereignty.

Related posts

• Photos – ADS signed (1)
• Transcript – Hu Jintao meets Harper (0)
• Hu Jintao receives maple syrup from Harper (5)
• Canada’s big right turn? (8)
• A tale of two dictators (1)

Ottawa Citizen – Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Europe this week in part to lobby the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy to pressure China on the issue of global warming. Even putting aside Canada’s dismal record on controlling its own emission of CO2 for a moment, don’t you wonder why Mr. Harper ventures into building a “coalition of the willing” before talking to the Chinese leaders?

After all, other heads of major industrialized countries visit China or receive their Chinese counterparts in their own capitals on a regular basis, and some of them do multiple mutual visits a year. U.S. President George W. Bush claims that he can just pick up the phone and talk to Chinese President Hu Jintao. French President Nicolas Sarkozy went to China only months after assuming his post, openly challenged the Chinese on global warming responsibilities, and then with a stroke of a pen, signed $30 billion worth of contracts selling Airbus planes and nuclear reactors.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown travelled to China in January, also within months of taking over from Tony Blair. Joined by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Brown engaged the Chinese people in a Q and A “town hall” meeting on a range of issues, offered to host 100 Chinese firms in Britain and promised to boost bilateral trade by 50 per cent, all in the next two years.

Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a China expert in his early training, headed to Beijing during the recent Tibet crisis. He delivered a speech in fluent Mandarin at Peking University. It was friendly, but frank, bringing up the Tibet issue. Instead of being booted, he was praised as being honest. His predecessor, the Conservative John Howard, actively engaged China, securing some $40 billion in long-term trade deals that have boosted the Australian economy.

So Mr. Harper’s counterparts in Europe are likely to look him in the eye and ask two questions: Do you have strong environmental policy credentials at home? What do you have to offer from your own interactions with the Chinese leadership on the subject of global warming? Mr. Harper has neither.

While the world is busy engaging China for easily identifiable reasons, Mr. Harper has been missing in action. Two and half years after President Hu last visited Canada (fall of 2005) and more than two years after the Conservatives came to power, Mr. Harper has yet to find Beijing on the map, not to mention take a trip there anytime soon.

Foreign-policy and China-watching communities have both speculated and heard many reasons for Mr. Harper’s lack of initiatives on China. First, there was the talk of an inexperienced young team that may take time to get the China file moving. Then, there was the all-consuming foreign policy challenge of Afghanistan that had to take priority over other things. Then there was the ever-looming domestic election that might come at any time, so a minority government must take care of that first …

They all bear some truth. But they also sound more like bad excuses now that the Conservatives have been in office for 27 months. Mr. Harper’s handling of Canada’s China policy has been, by design or default, exactly opposite to that of other world leaders.

While others are emphasizing China’s growing importance and forming a comprehensive China strategy, Canada has removed Beijing from its foreign policy priority list; while new leaders from Germany to Japan put summit diplomacy with the Chinese leaders as an indispensable part of their travel itinerary, Mr. Harper has stopped such a practice in Canada; while others are promoting investment and trade with China as a part of increasing jobs and competitiveness at home, the Harper government has let our proportion of trade and investment with China slip; and while others are in constant consultation on some of the most pressing global issues such as the environment and climate change, Mr. Harper is not even on talking terms with the Chinese.

So it is clear that Mr. Harper’s China policy is anything but to have one. And contrary to the prevailing but misleading perception that somehow this government has emphasized human rights in its China policy, the Conservatives don’t even deserve a passing grade on this subject.

They have suspended Canada’s annual human rights dialogue and replaced it with nothing; they have been making grand, but largely self-congratulatory, moral statements regarding China’s human rights record but have not implemented a single tangible project to advance human rights and democracy in that country; and Mr. Harper confuses trade with rights by stating that Canada would not sacrifice human rights for the mighty dollar, as if they are mutually exclusive objectives.

Instead of taking fresh China policy initiatives, various House and Senate committees have settled for endless hearings. What they have been told, including testimonies from this author, is very straightforward: we are losing our influence in China, we need a China strategy. Put national interests over and above narrow party politics, and engage China on a range of issues that are absolutely relevant to the long-term wellbeing of Canadians.

Yes, International Trade Minister David Emerson, the only cabinet member who has China expertise, has been going to China since last year and so have a few other ministers. But unless Mr. Harper is willing to engage the Chinese directly by making the long-overdue trip to Beijing, his China agenda on this European trip may yield very little success.

Wenran Jiang is the acting director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, and the organizer of a recent 44-member national conference on Canada-China relations.

Related posts

• Photos – ADS signed (1)
• Transcript – Hu Jintao meets Harper (0)
• Hu Jintao receives maple syrup from Harper (5)
• Canada’s big right turn? (8)
• A tale of two dictators (1)