GUANGZHOU, CHINA—Ping pong, pipelines and pandas.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s four-day trade mission to China has had a taste of it all, bouncing from Beijing, to Guangzhou, and on Saturday to the southwestern inland city of Chongqing.
Harper used a keynote speech here Friday to slam the “foreign money and influence” behind critics of Canada’s oil sands even as he welcomed Chinese investment in Canada’s energy sector.
Moments later, Harper tried to practice a little foreign influencing of his own.
On his third day in China, Harper publicly raised the issue of human rights here. Speaking to 600 Canadian and Chinese business people from Guangzhou and the Shanghai and Hong Kong chambers of commerce, he reminded China to respect human rights and be a “responsible global citizen.”
Canadians, he said, expect their prime minister to have a “good and frank dialogue on fundamental principles such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of belief and worship.”
Speaking to human rights in public, albeit far from the capital of Beijing, meant Harper’s concerns would register clearly with China’s leaders. He had raised the issue only privately in meetings this week with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
However, there is little likelihood the broader Chinese population would hear his message and caution to Chinese leadership, because media here are state-controlled. Friday’s newspapers instead reported that central authorities have warned leaders in Tibet to “prepare for war” with what they call “splittists” within the “Dalai Lama clique.”
Harper’s main message to China, however, was heard loud and clear.
“We want to sell our energy to people who want to buy our energy. It’s that simple,” said Harper, prompting the only applause through his speech.
The Prime Minister said the Conservative government is keen to facilitate China’s bid to buy more energy from Canada because it no longer wishes to depend on one buyer — the United States.
At the same time, Harper made clear he does not equate Chinese foreign investment in oil sands development with the unwanted “foreign money” behind environmental groups, and that he sees no irony in the contradiction.
“We will uphold our responsibility to put the interests of Canadians ahead of foreign money and influence that seek to obstruct development in Canada in favour of energy imported from other, less stable parts of the world.”
Chinese state-owned oil giants like Sinopec, Petro China and China Investment Group are eager to purchase Canadian oil that could be one day shipped to Asian markets via an Alberta-B.C. pipeline project.
Enbridge Canada’s Northern Gateway project is now before National Energy Board hearings, and Harper has declared it a “national priority” to diversify energy exports in the wake of a disappointing U.S. decision to nix a north-south pipeline this year.
It was not clear whether Chinese oil executives were in the room to hear the sales pitch, or the human rights talk that followed. Canadian oil and gas executives who are part of the Prime Minister’s official delegation did.
Harper said his government is “committed to ensuring that Canada has the infrastructure necessary to move our energy resources to those diversified markets.”
He did not say whether that means his cabinet would override any negative recommendation from the NEB hearings on the Northern Gateway pipeline or move to shorten the review process.
Then Harper turned to human rights, as he did before a business audience in 2009 in Shanghai.
“Taking things to the next level” with China means recognizing “we should engage more deeply” not just on trade, he said, but on “fundamental national values.”
Harper did not mention specific groups — unlike two weeks ago, when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird made a direct reference to concerns with China’s domestic rights record.
“In China, we see Roman Catholic priests, Christian clergy and their laity, worshipping outside of state-sanctioned boundaries, who are continually subject to raids, arrests and detention,” said Baird. “We see Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetan Buddhists, and Uighur Muslims face harassment and physical intimidation. These abhorrent acts fly in the face of our core principals, our core values,” Baird said in a London speech.
The Prime Minister alluded only indirectly to broader international concerns.
“Canadians also demand that their government be a responsible global citizen in dealing with the peace and security challenges that confront the world, and wherever we can, to urge other governments, including global actors like China, to do the same.”
Harper said China faces “unique” challenges as it tries to expand its economy, as well as “undeniable differences” of culture and history.
But he said “economic, social and political development are, over time, inseparable.”
Earlier in the day Harper met with Wang Yang, Guangdong province’s governor and Communist Party Secretary, and noted he was the first Prime Minister to visit a corner of China that has been the source of most Chinese immigration to Canada.
Like other Chinese leaders who warmly welcomed Harper this week, Wang said he was “very pleased to receive your Excellency.”
Harper also visited a school that teaches Canadian curriculum and grants Ontario high school credits, and played a bit of doubles ping-pong with some students.
He spoke to one student who said she wanted to study finance. Harper told her she should “go work on Wall Street.”
Harper concludes his visit in Chongqing on Saturday with a long-awaited trip to a zoo, and a final meeting with an influential up-and-coming Chinese leader Bo Xilai.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Tonda MacCharles
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