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Canada restoring relations with China


Canada's Minister David Emerson

Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson says Canada's strained relationship with China is improving, a signal the Harper government is making efforts to change its policy toward the country.

"We've got some momentum going ... particularly since the Prime Minister met with President Hu [Hintao] at the G8 in Japan," Mr. Emerson told CTV's Question Period yesterday on the eve of his departure to China as leader of Canada's delegation at the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.

Stephen Harper attended the Group of Eight summit in Japan last month, where he met with the Chinese leader.

"We've got a trajectory of diplomatic and other kinds of activities that we are laying out in front of us and I look forward to starting to put that together," Mr. Emerson said in his first lengthy television interview since taking over his new role.

Mr. Emerson is known to be a proponent of a strong relationship with China. His view differs from some Harper cabinet ministers and caucus members who are focused on human rights and want to emphasize that over trade. His appointment was seen by some as an indication that Mr. Harper was trying to improve the China-Canada relationship.

"I think that the relationship with China is one that we've been cultivating and improving for some time now and my appointment certainly does not get in the way of that, but I don't think it's a signal of any profound change in foreign policy," he said.

Wenran Jiang of the University of Alberta's China Institute said yesterday that Mr. Emerson's appointment is "enormously important" as he knows the file better than his colleagues.

He said the Emerson statements show a positive trend toward bettering the relationship, calling it a "good signal."

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"... Emerson is well-respected. He may well represent the Prime Minister's voice on this front."

However, he said the problem is that Mr. Emerson is not enough.

"As important as he is now as Foreign Minister, probably the most respected senior minister now in all the Harper governments ... but still it is not enough when it comes to China.

"You need to have the Prime Minister's direct engagement. That is where the key problem is," he said. "Harper is not committing to visiting China any time soon."

Mr. Jiang noted that Mr. Harper hasn't visited China since he formed his government in early 2006. He said in the past 2½ years bilateral relations between Canada and China have been at the lowest point since diplomatic relations were established in 1970.

"Why everybody else? Other heads of state of G8 ... are visiting China, are engaging China for improving China's human rights, for improving economic relations to promote jobs and investments and our Prime Minister is not doing so," Mr. Jiang said.

But Mr. Emerson said Canada's relationship with China is crucial and the Prime Minister agrees.

"I've believed for a long time in my discussions with the Prime Minister [and] he agrees, you've got to engage China," Mr. Emerson said. "We've got issues around human rights, rule of law and those kinds of issues. You've got to find a way to ensure that we can continue to promote those issues with greatest effect.

"But we have to engage," he said. "We have to manage the relationship and that's certainly going to be a top priority for me."

Mr. Emerson is representing the Prime Minister in Beijing. Mr. Harper's absence at the opening ceremonies has created controversy and is being considered by some as a snub to the Chinese. Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae has said that Canada will "pay a price" for Mr. Harper's absence. Mr. Jiang agreed that the Prime Minister's absence is a mistake.

There had been earlier suggestions of a boycott by world leaders as a result of China's recent crackdown on Tibetan protesters. However, leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have decided to attend.

The opening ceremonies take place on Friday. Mr. Emerson said that during events around the opening he will have the opportunity to "rub shoulders" with officials from around the world. He is also hoping to meet with his Chinese counterpart.

Mr. Emerson's efforts to engage China contrast with those of his predecessors. The Harper government's previous policy seemed to be one based on lecturing China about human-rights abuses.

Meanwhile, Mr. Emerson's new role does not mean the government is changing its policy toward the imprisonment of Toronto-born Omar Khadr, 21, the former child soldier, who is the youngest detainee at Guantanamo Bay.

"I don't intend to be pushing for any great lurching of Canadian policy without having done an extremely careful in-depth analysis of the Gordian knot of all of the related issues," he said when asked about moving Mr. Khadr to Canada.

"I've been tested and baited in the House ... to change Canadian policy on a number of consular cases, the Khadr case is one of them," he said. "But I have discovered that it would be a very stupid, neophyte foreign minister, indeed, that made any assumption that this was a simple matter."