|
Rights groups
call on Canadian PM to push China on rights
Thu Jan 13, 5:43 PM ET Canada - AFP
OTTAWA (AFP) - Amnesty International and a coalition
of activists called on Canada's Prime Minister Paul
Martin to make human rights the centerpiece of his
country's ties with China, ahead of a visit to
Beijing.
"Amnesty International urges that you use the
opportunity of this visit to adopt a more resolute
approach to Canada's relationship with China," Amnesty
said in an open letter to Martin.
Human rights should be "firmly and concretely" at the
centre of the relationship, the letter said.
The coalition of Canadian non-governmental
organisations, which included the Uighur Canadian
Association, and the Canada Tibet Committee, claimed
the government had soft-pedalled on China's human
rights record to safeguard lucrative trade ties with
Beijing.
"Too often, economic concerns have taken precedence,
relegating human rights to off-the-record discussions
and theoretical debates," the coalition said, in its
own letter to Martin.
The Canadian Prime Minister is due in China on January
20-23 on a trip to Asia that also includes stops in
tsunami-hit nations Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as
stops in India, Japan and Hong Kong.
Martin is expected to meet President Hu Jintao and
Premier Wen Jiabao, on a visit which will include a
thrust for stronger economic and trade relations
between the two countries.
But he promised last year not to downplay human rights
concerns in the rush for more lucrative trade ties
with China's dynamic emerging market.
"All Canadians are eager to see us vigorously promote
in our dealings with China core Canadian values in
areas such as the environment and human rights,"
Martin said in remarks to a China-Canada business
forum in Toronto.
"We have done so, and we will continue to do so. We
will do so because we understand that our advocacy
does not stand in contradiction to our trade and
economic agenda."
Martin will not be raising specific cases with Chinese
leaders during his visit, a senior government official
said on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.
"We will be talking about some of the general things
we would like to see in China, like freedom of
religion for example," the official said.
|
