Last month, the Parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights — on which I sit — heard witness testimony, and received documentary evidence, implicating CNOOC in serious human rights violations. Moreover, it has been revealed that the economic, environmental and human rights concerns of at least three Conservative MPs were ignored by the government.
Further, last week, a U.S. cyber-security firm released a report detailing a campaign of Chinese cyber-espionage targeting American companies — including those with a stake in the Canadian pipeline. We have no reason to believe that Canadian businesses aren’t also being targeted.
The decision-making process surrounding the CNOOC-Nexen deal lacked transparency, and was devoid of the consultation mandated in cases of foreign takeovers. The considerations on which the decision was based were essentially of an economic character. Human rights considerations do not appear to have been factored into the decision at all.
It may well be, as National Post columnist Andrew Coyne put it recently, “When it comes to trade with China, we are all hypocrites now,” and that “were Canada to refuse to do business with China, it would not alter its behaviour one whit.” But this is to miss the point about the relevance and importance of human-rights considerations. Even if one could not change the conduct of the Chinese government, one should at least stand in solidarity with its victims. One should at least send the message that they are not alone. One should at least protect the integrity of our Canadian companies.
In that regard, the CNOOC-Nexen deal was a failure.
CNOOC itself likely has played a role in the repression of Chinese political prisoners such as Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo, practitioners of minority religions such as Falun Gong, and Tibetans (of whom no fewer than 82 self-immolated in 2012 to protest Chinese repression). Yet CNOOC’s role largely has flown under the radar. This example shows why a rigorous human-rights analysis is so important in analyzing such deals.
In the case of the CNOOC takeover, a human-rights analysis would begin with allegations that the state-owned enterprise is complicit in the forced resettlement of many rural dwellers — including the majority of Tibet’s 2.25 million nomadic herders — into concentrated settlements. The Chinese government defends the policy as a way of protecting the land from overgrazing, and improving access to modern infrastructure, but critics charge that its true purpose is to clear the way for mining and oil extraction. In a report released earlier this year, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food found that many forcibly relocated Tibetans cannot sustain a decent livelihood in the resettlement areas — partly set up with CNOOC funding — and therefore lose not only their traditional way of life, but their economic independence and food security.
CNOOC also stands accused of discrimination, harassment and violence directed at Falun Gong employees. According to the documentary evidence, CNOOC security forces and management have worked with police to detain Falun Gong employees and send them to “brainwashing centres,” which was achieved by deceiving workers into thinking they were going on a business trip. Witness testimony has further accused CNOOC of arbitrarily dismissing or withholding pay from Falun Gong employees, confiscating their property, torturing them, and facilitating their imprisonment.
Clearly, a company facing these sorts of accusations is a suspect business partner for Canada.
There are those who argue that doing business with human rights abusers has, in and of itself, a salutary effect on human rights, notably by giving countries such as Canada increased opportunities to engage on the human rights front. But in this case, we squandered the chance for any such engagement: The approval of the CNOOC deal was based on economic considerations alone. The irony is that Nexen has been a model corporation from a human rights perspective. What will happen now? Will CNOOC’s violations continue under Nexen’s cover?
It is not too late for human rights concerns to inform Canada’s dealings with CNOOC and other Chinese corporations going forward. At best, we may influence Chinese practices; at worst, we will make clear to the victims of oppression in China that Canada stands with them in their struggle for freedom, justice and human rights.
Original Article
Source: fullcomment.nationalpost.com
Author: Irwin Cotler
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