International Trade Minister Stockwell Day met Monday with Chen Deming, China's Minister of Commerce (Day's on the left, Chen's on the right). Day and Chen have met before, in Lima at the APEC summit. Before leaving Canada, Day was asked several times by reporters if he planned to bring up China's human rights record or other non-trade issues such as North Korea's rocket test but all he would say is that Canada had not agreed to restrict itself in any of the discussions Day is having or will have during his travels in China.
Day's office is doing a good job providing updates of his activites in China (and, earlier on the trip, in Japan). This most recent update — known as a read-out in political communications circles — is the first to mention that Day, who has been a strong critic of China on human rights in the past, brought up the issue with his Chinese hosts. Here is the paragraph from that update:
Minister Day and Minister Chen agreed on the importance of a vibrant and forward-looking relationship and of increasing levels of bilateral trade and investment. They exchanged persectives and views on the state of the world's economy, investment climate in Canada and China, stimulus packages adopted by Canada and China, and the need to collaborate to fight protectionism. The ministers also discussed human rights issues of concern to Canada. They also underlined areas where bilateral cooperation can be increased, notably in technology and energy sectors.
That's it. That's all. Day's office declined to provide any details about what, if any, cases Day brought to Chen's attention.
Here's more from the read-out:
The two ministers discussed the state of the bilateral Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) negotiations, as well as Approved Destination Status (ADS).
Other issues discussed included investment in Canada by Chinese state-owned enterprises, the use of trade remedies, value-added tax on aircraft and beef access. Minister Day and Minister Chen reinforced the shared commitment to concluding the WTO Doha Round and agreed on the benefits of working closely together to facilitate the resolution of key outstanding issues with relevant countries.
“(Day's on the left, Chen's on the right)”
???
Gabby, I think it's for the Lefties who have forgotten what Stockwell Day looks like. 🙂
Umm … or maybe it's an effort to stay away from politically incorrect racial profiling … or maybe our host is checking to see whether guests bother to read the entire post, not just the headline … or maybe it's just an inside joke (which I don’t get) …
I have to laugh, though … a couple of years ago, when the PM was quite forceful in voicing his opinion on China’s human rights stance, he was roundly criticized on the basis of possible negative repercussions on trade relations.
http://www.bdo.ca/library/polls/documents/27Nov06-FPCEOPoll-HumanRightsinChina.pdf
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s public diplomacy on the human rights situation in China elicited paradoxical reactions in Canadian journalism and business. Customary advocates of human rights in the Globe and Mail chastised the Prime Minister for ostensibly putting Canadian business opportunities at risk. …”
Now that the Harper government is trying to bolster trade relations with China in this recessionary climate, while not neglecting the human rights angle, what is seemingly being implied here is that Stockwell Day is not being forceful enough in pursuing the human rights question.
Would “damned if you, damned if you don't” apply here?
It is Canada that should be defending its record on human rights to China, not the other way around. Seems a tad racist for you to assume your white country is better than China Mr. Akin, there's little basis for such a conclusion.
It's commonly accepted that no Country in the world has “lily white hands” when it comes to Human Rights.
What is also commonly accepted, is that the hands of some countries are dirtier than others.
I would argue that in terms of Human Rights and Freedoms, Canada has a much better record than China. I challenge you to look at that objectively. The Death Penalty, the deaths of female children for no other reason than they're not male, the unlawful imprisonment of foreign citizens without trial or charge, the state control and censorship of any opposing views, the journalistic chill over both foreign and national media…..
“Seems a tad racist for you to assume your white country is better than China Mr. Akin, there's little basis for such a conclusion.”
There's no hint or allusion in our host's post to a “my country is better than your country” meme – so there's little basis for you to draw that conclusion.
As a matter of fact, if we're talking unfounded conclusions, the generalization expressed by your moniker – “Canada is racist” – is a prime example.