My Report on Canada-China Relations In the Eye of the Beholder

Click here for Colin Freeze's article published on page A3 of the Globe and Mail this morning entitled "Canada called on to increase spying on China: diplomats poor at interpreting country for Ottawa, report says, suggesting intelligence agencies step up" which is about my recently released report A Reassessment of Canada's Interests in China. Click here for comments on this Globe and Mail report.

Personally I would not characterize my report as: "much of the study's focus is on China's unconstrained spying and Canada's relative naiveté." But different readers focus on different aspects of the document. The subheadings of my report include the following:
Trade and Investment
Immigration and Consular Matters
Development and Human Rights
Political and Economic Relations
Taiwan, Tibet, Uyghur, Mongolian Issues and Falungong Issues
Public Diplomacy

My hope is that people will read the full report (or at least the "Executive Summary," but reading the whole thing would be best).

Press Release for "A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy"

http://www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org/download/aboutus/media/pressrelea/090224burt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s approach to China is woefully inadequate

Canadian diplomats not prepared for service in China, lacking basic language skills

TORONTO, ON – February 24, 2009 – Canada’s foreign policy toward China has been falling short of expectations for more than a decade and across a wide range of criteria, states a new paper released today by the Canadian International Council (CIC).

A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy, written by Charles Burton, examines Canada’s existing China programming and concludes that it has become less relevant to Chinese conditions and less effective in fulfilling Canada’s interest in China.

Dr. Burton, a CIC research associate and Brock University political scientist who has been seconded to work at Canada’s Embassy in Beijing on two separate occasions, argues that Canada’s prosperity in the global trading environment is at risk if it doesn’t improve its engagement with China, its second largest trading partner, and a country that increasingly plays a more prominent role in the international arena.

Dr. Burton recommends the Government of Canada diversify its engagement with China and directly engage policymakers in the Chinese Government and Communist Party whose decisions have implications for Canada’s interests, rather than focusing their efforts on institutions and channels that are not influential.

“China requires a comprehensive engagement strategy,” says Dr. Burton. “The focus of our engagement should extend beyond formal relationships with the Chinese government through conventional diplomatic channels. It is central to Canada’s interests to energetically and proactively engage China at the central, provincial and local levels.”

Effective and comprehensive engagement strategy in China is vital to Canada’s prosperity, but smarter engagement with China demands a Canadian foreign affairs establishment having the requisite language and cultural skills and creativity in policy implementation.

“Nearly all Canadian diplomats posted in China lack any serious Chinese language skills. For example, most cannot read the local daily newspaper or understand the nightly news on television. Also, the current rotation system of diplomatic postings results in personnel spending only three years in China before being transferred elsewhere,” points out Dr. Burton.“ These circumstances seriously inhibit trade promotion at the time when Canada continues to lose market share in China.”

Canada’s policy towards China is in fact so out of date that it is now of little interest to the Chinese, Dr. Burton added. In his recommendations, Dr. Burton outlines several strategies: engagement with a wider variety of actors in official China that includes the Communist Party, developing a program of incentives for civil servants with Chinese language skills to encourage them to focus their careers on China-related work, clearly articulating Canada’s strategy for improving and promoting access to the Chinese market for Canadian business, as well as facing China with maturity, enthusiasm, energy and creativity.

Dr. Charles Burton is one of four respected academics chosen earlier this year by the CIC to contribute new perspectives in vital areas of Canadian foreign policy leading to further discussion and debate.

For more information about this paper or the CIC Fellows, please visit: www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org

MEDIA CONTACT:

Neve Peric
Director of Media Relations
Tel: (519) 885-2444, ext. 390
Mobile: (519) 590-2626
nperic@canadianinternationalcouncil.org

The Canadian International Council (CIC) is a non-partisan, nationwide council established to strengthen Canada’s role in international affairs. With 13 branches nationwide, part of the CIIA national branch network, CIC seeks to advance research, discussion and debate on international issues by supporting a Canadian foreign policy network that crosses academic disciplines, policy areas, and economic sectors. The CIC features a privately funded fellowship program, supported by a network of issue-specific working groups. Carefully selected CIC fellows focus on important foreign policy issues, working out of universities and research institutions across the country. The CIC was founded in 2007 by Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM (Research In Motion).

-30-

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Le-Conseil-International-Du-Canada-953759.html

Le Conseil international du Canada

Feb 24, 2009 13:22 ET

L'approche du Canada à l'égard de la Chine est franchement inadéquate

Les diplomates canadiens sont mal préparés à travailler en Chine et maîtrisent insuffisamment la langue du pays

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - 24 fév. 2009) - Depuis plus d'une décennie, la politique étrangère du Canada à l'égard de la Chine a cessé de répondre aux attentes établies selon de nombreux critères, soutient une étude publiée aujourd'hui par le Conseil international du Canada (CIC).

Dans cette étude intitulée A Reassessment of Canada's Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada's China Policy, Charles Burton examine notre stratégie actuelle à l'endroit de la Chine et juge qu'elle est moins adaptée que jamais à la conjoncture chinoise et à la défense des intérêts canadiens dans ce pays.

Associé de recherche du CIC et politologue à l'Université Brock, Charles Burton a été détaché à deux reprises auprès de l'ambassade du Canada à Pékin. Selon lui, la prospérité de notre pays dans l'environnement commercial mondial sera menacée tant que nous ne raffermirons pas nos liens avec la Chine, deuxième partenaire commercial du Canada et pays de plus en plus dominant sur l'échiquier international.

Plutôt que de centrer nos efforts sur les institutions et réseaux de moindre influence, M. Burton recommande au gouvernement canadien de diversifier ses engagements avec la Chine et de nouer des liens directs avec les stratèges du gouvernement et du Parti communiste chinois qui exercent une réelle influence sur les dossiers liés aux intérêts canadiens.

"Nous devons adopter face à la Chine une stratégie d'engagement globale qui déborde le cadre des relations officielles entretenues dans les réseaux diplomatiques traditionnels, précise-t-il. Il est d'une importance capitale pour nos intérêts de cultiver des liens fructueux et dynamiques avec les autorités centrales, provinciales et locales de la Chine."

Pour appliquer intelligemment cette stratégie globale indispensable à notre prospérité, le personnel canadien des affaires étrangères doit posséder les aptitudes linguistiques et culturelles nécessaires à sa mise en oeuvre créative.

"Très peu de diplomates canadiens affectés en Chine ont une connaissance suffisante de la langue chinoise, déplore le professeur Burton. Par exemple, la plupart ne peuvent lire les quotidiens locaux ni comprendre les informations télévisées. De plus, notre système de rotation des affectations diplomatiques prévoit le transfert de nos effectifs après seulement trois années de présence en Chine. Ce qui restreint énormément nos efforts de promotion commerciale, alors même que le Canada perd chaque jour des parts du marché chinois."

En fait, la politique canadienne est si obsolète qu'elle suscite aujourd'hui très peu d'intérêt chez les Chinois, observe M. Burton. Parmi ses recommandations, il propos notamment l'adoption des mesures suivantes : élargissement de l'engagement canadien à un vaste éventail de décideurs chinois, y compris au sein du Parti communiste ; élaboration d'un programme d'incitations destiné aux fonctionnaires canadiens qui maîtrisent la langue chinoise afin de les encourager à centrer leur carrière sur les dossiers relatifs à la Chine ; énonciation claire d'une stratégie favorisant l'accès des entreprises canadiennes au marché chinois ; et adoption à l'égard de la Chine d'une approche réfléchie, enthousiaste, dynamique et créative.

Charles Burton est l'un des quatre universitaires de premier plan à qui le CIC a proposé en 2008 de définir de nouvelles perspectives dans les domaines clés de la politique étrangère du Canada en vue d'enrichir le débat public.

Pour de plus amples renseignements sur cette étude et les associés de recherche du CIC, prière de visiter le www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org.

Le Conseil international du Canada (CIC) est un organisme national non partisan créé en vue de renforcer le rôle du Canada dans les affaires internationales. Totalisant au pays 13 sections intégrées au réseau national de l'ICAI, le CIC vise à favoriser la recherche, le dialogue et le débat sur les grands enjeux mondiaux en appuyant un réseau d'étude de la politique étrangère canadienne qui traverse les disciplines, orientations politiques et secteurs économiques. Le CIC a créé un programme de bourses de recherche financé par le secteur privé et soutenu par un réseau de groupes de travail spécialisés. Rigoureusement sélectionnés, ses membres se consacrent à d'importantes questions de politique étrangère en lien avec des universités et des établissements de recherche de tout le pays. Le CIC a été fondé en 2007 par Jim Balsillie, coprésident et chef de la direction de RIM (Research In Motion).

For more information, please contact

RENSEIGNEMENTS :
Le Conseil international du Canada (CIC)
Neve Peric, Relations avec les médias
(519) 885-2444, poste 390
Courriel : nperic@canadianinternationalcouncil.org
Site Web : www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org

Cli

A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy

http://www.canadianinternationalcouncil.org/research/canadianfo/areassessm

Download Charles Burton's A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy


Executive Summary

• Because Canada is continuing to lose market share in China, the Government of Canada should clearly articulate its strategy for improving and promoting access to the Chinese market for Canadian business. This strategy should be focused on the distinctive characteristics of the Chinese market and business culture, and Canada’s comparative advantage in that market vis-à-vis our competitors. Trade officials should be deployed with much better pro-active coordination between the Federal Trade Commissioners Service, provincial government trade promotions agencies, the Export Development Corporation and the Canada-China Business Council.
• The Government of Canada should phase out the CIDA program in China. Instead, Canada should engage in good governance, democratic development and human rights programming in China through the arms-length Canada Foundation for Democracy proposed by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. Stakeholder groups in Canada based on ethnic ties to China or with mandates to promote human rights in China should be better deployed to collaborate with Government to achieve the aims of the Canada Foundation for Democracy in its China programming. In addition, the Canadian Government and private sector should jointly engage in environmental sustainability programming though the Trade Section of the Canadian Embassy to China.
• The Government should reform its human resources procedures to ensure assignment of personnel with the requisite qualifications to undertake China-related positions. The effectiveness of the divisions of DFAIT, CSIS and DND responsible for Canada’s relations with China is severely inhibited due to allocation of personnel without China-specific expertise to positions that demand this expertise. This demands requiring that civil servants assigned to certain China-related positions demonstrate appropriate Chinese language skills as measured by standardized Chinese language testing as a prerequisite to deployment. Personnel who have acquired Chinaspecific expertise should be significantly rewarded through an incentives scheme designed to encourage Canadian civil servants to undertake careers with a sustained China focus.
• The Government of Canada should diversify its engagement of China. Canada should be directly engaging policymakers in the Chinese Government and Communist Party whose decisions have implications for Canada’s interests in China on an ongoing basis. The current focus on the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation offices of Chinese line ministries should be expanded to a more comprehensive engagement of policymaking and decision making agencies in the Chinese system.
• Reporting on China by DFAIT and the Intelligence Assessment Staff of the Privy Council Office as well as the Communications Security Establishment Canada and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service should be refocused away from general assessments of Chinese affairs and should instead focus reporting on practical matters directly related to Canada’s interests. The relevance to Canada and quality of these reports should be subject to periodic external review to ensure that they are fulfilling the strategic mandate of these agencies.
• The Government of Canada should pursue engagement of Chinese ministries on an ongoing basis at Director-General to Director-General and Assistant Deputy Minister to Assistant Deputy Minister level. “Strategic Partnership” at the Deputy-Minister level is not feasible due to economic asymmetry between Canada and China. Due to power asymmetry between Canada and China, high-level Canadian Government engagement of the Government of China on political and social issues through “quiet diplomacy” such as the Canada-China Bilateral Human Rights Dialogue has not proven effective. While it is certainly in the Canadian interest to raise human rights concerns in all Canadian Government interactions with Chinese leaders, more focused and targeted programming to encourage enhanced Chinese compliance with its commitments to the UN Human Rights Covenants should replace the previous moribund Human Rights Dialogue approach.
• The Government of Canada should strengthen the China-specific expertise of CSIS counter-espionage officers. Canada should also be more proactive in responding to Canadians of Chinese origin, and to Chinese nationals A Reassessment of Canada’s Interests in China and Options for Renewal of Canada’s China Policy temporarily resident in Canada, including ethnic Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians who complain of harassment and intimidation by Chinese security agents and Chinese diplomats in Canada.
• The Government of Canada should solicit Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian diaspora communities’ views, as well the views of their co-nationals still living in China, on the design and implications of Canadian Government supported programming in their native lands. This consultation will better ensure that the Government is fully attuned to ethnic sensitivities in its China-focused programming. Such consultation would not imply that the Government of Canada endorses Tibetan, Uyghur and Mongolian independentist claims to rightful sovereignty over these territories, nor that the Canadian Government intends to challenge the legitimacy of Chinese rule in these areas.
• The proportion of Chinese citizens working as support staff in the Consular sections of the Canadian Embassy and Consulates in China should be reduced. There should be corresponding augmentation of numbers of Canadabased staff with Chinese language skills and knowledge of Chinese police, prison, security agencies and the related Chinese Communist Party institutions.

Link to NGO Coalition Letter to Prime Minister Harper about Guantanamo Uyghurs and Huseyin Celil

http://web.ncf.ca/aq159/NGO%20Coalition%20Letter%20on%20Uyghurs%20and%20H%20Celil.pdf

For a report that indicates that the Chinese Government does not want Canada to accept any of the Uyghurs currently in prison at Guantanamo click here.

Comments on China's National Report Submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 10 November 2008

To my knowledge this report it not available on the UN Human Rights Council yet. That will be the authoritative version. But in the meantime a draft can be found here:

http://web.ncf.ca/aq159/ChinaNatRptENG10NOV08.pdf
Other relevant documents here: http://www.upr-info.org/Documents-for-the-review,459.html

Charles Burton

Comments on China's National Report Submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on 10 November 2008

This document is complicated to interpret. Many parts of it could lead readers lacking specialized expertise in the political and social realities of China today to draw conclusions with regard to the state of China's compliance with the 25 international human rights conventions to which China is party that are inaccurate.

The weakest parts of the Report are those touching on matters relating to freedom of expression, right to political participation and freedom of association. But some parts of the Report evidently do provide insight into China's shortcomings in realization of economic, social and cultural rights and the measures the Government of China is considering implementing to address these.

Paragraph 6 contains the standard defensive disclaimer for China's serious shortcomings in its human rights record: "Given differences in political systems, levels of development and historical and cultural backgrounds, it is natural for countries to have different views on the question of human rights. It is therefore important that countries engage in dialogue and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect in their common endeavour to promote and protect human rights."

But Paragraph 7 sets out a more proactive statement of positive political political intent: "Governments at all levels are now conscientiously implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development, an approach that places people first and seeks to ensure comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, in an effort to build a harmonious society characterized by democracy, the role of law, equity and justice."

Paragraph 9 notes that "The Constitution of the People's Republic of China expressly stipulates that 'the State respects and safeguards human rights'. Chapter II of the Constitution sets out in detail the fundamental rights and duties of citizens, including civil and political rights, such as the right to vote and to stand for election, freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration, of religious belief, of correspondence and of the person; and economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to work, to rest, to education, to social security and to engage in academic and creative pursuits. The Constitution also has specific provisions on the protection of the rights of women, the elderly, minors, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities."

But in China the primary political issue is the lack of political will to actually implement these provisions of China's national Constitution.

Paragraph 13 includes an utterly specious claim that "Every citizen who has reached the age of 18 has the right to vote and stand for election. Elections are competitive, with direct elections at the county and township levels. For several years the voter participation rate throughout the country has been above 90 per cent." No reference is made to the desirability for genuine electoral democracy in China or of any intention to move toward it.

Paragraph 15 also includes content that is patently at odds with reality in China today: "China adheres to the principle that all ethnic groups are equal and implements a system of regional ethnic autonomy in areas with high concentrations of ethnic minorities. Organs of self-government are established in these autonomous areas to ensure the exercise of autonomous rights, including the right to enact legislation and the right of ethnic groups to independently administer their affairs in such areas as the economy, education, science, culture and health." Key issues here are serious shortcomings in provision of native-language education and suppression transmission of history that is at odds with mainstream Han interpretations. Cultural and religious freedom is also a major issue in most non-Han areas of China.

With regard to labour rights, paragraph 24 notes: "A system of labour standards covering working hours, rest, leave, remuneration, prohibition of child labour, and vocational safety and health is taking shape." But then in paragraph 27 there is a patently deceptive claim that "Employees have the collective right to conclude labour contracts with employers covering remuneration, working hours, rest, leave, labour safety, health, and insurance benefits."

The claim in paragraph 43 of the death penalty being applied with "extreme caution" is belied by the statistics that show that China has more executions that all other nations combined. The proviso of some provisions for mercy "if immediate execution is not essential" in this paragraph is disturbing.

In paragraph 49 indicates: "The Criminal Law, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Judges Law, the Public Procurators Law and the People's Police Law explicitly prohibit the extortion of confessions by torture or the illegal collection of evidence. The Criminal Law establishes as a punishable criminal offence the extortion of a confession by torture, the collection of evidence by force and the ill-treatment of detainees. Anyone who perpetrates such acts will be held criminally responsible. Under the Law on State Compensation, any citizen who suffers from physical injuries caused by torture applied in order to extort a confession, acts of violence, or the unlawful use of weapons or police instruments shall be entitled to claim State compensation. Every people's court at the intermediate level and above has a compensation committee." Nevertheless the reports of pervasive use of torture to extract confessions show no sign of abating. Reports of people being compensated for being subject to torture or of police and security agency and prison personnel being sanctioned for engaging in acts of torture almost nil.

Paragraph 59 is also a highly specious claim: "The Constitution explicitly provides that citizens enjoy freedom of speech and of the press, and have the right to criticize a State organ or its officials and to make suggestions." This provision in the Constitution is clearly not enacted.

Paragraph 80 rightly notes: "China is a developing country. Although its total GDP ranks among the world's highest, the country still ranks well below 100 in terms of per capita GDP. Imbalances in development between urban and rural areas and among regions persist, as does the imbalance between economic and social development. Economic and social development are hampered by such constraints as resources, energy and the environment."

Paragraph 84 also makes a highly valid observation: "The problem posed by the fact that public health services are not adapted to people's needs remains acutely obvious. The imbalance in the development of health-care services between urban and rural areas and among regions persists. Irrational allocation of resources, weak public health services, inadequate rural and community-based medical services, poor regulation of the manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals, the rapidly rising costs of medical care and medicines have all elicited strong reactions from the people." Similar observations could be made with regard to provision of educational services, and social welfare provisions particularly pensions and other poverty alleviation measures.

The last two paragraphs summarize the political and legal areas where China falls short through a positive spin but without any specifying of measures to ameliorate the existing situation:

101. Deepening political restructuring; expanding citizens' orderly participation in political affairs, improving democratic institutions, diversifying the forms and expanding the channels of democracy; holding democratic elections, further developing the process of democratic decision-making, democratic administration and democratic oversight, guaranteeing the people's rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard and to oversee; gradually adopting the same ratio of deputies to represented population in elections to people's congresses in urban and rural areas.

102. Advancing the rule of law as a fundamental principle and deepening the reform of the judiciary; advancing democracy and openness in the judicial system; further regulating law enforcement and judicial practice and strengthening judicial oversight; improving the human rights training given to public servants, providing education in human rights and the legal system to all members of society and enhancing citizens' awareness of their rights and obligations.

Economic Explanation for Why Strikes By Teaching Assistants Go On Too Long

I feel a lot of sympathy for students at York University currently waiting out the strike by their TAs. The University term will likely be extended into the spring and summer period when the students had been expecting to take up paying jobs to help pay their tuition for 2009-10.

The TAs on the other hand will not likely be suffering much economic loss in the end. Usually TAs are paid by the term so their contracts are for 8 months out of 12. The other 4 months they live off what they were paid for the previous 8. So seeing as the winter term will be extended into the spring to make up two 12-week periods of classes followed by exams, the TAs only suffer a financial loss if the strike extends beyond 16 weeks.

The professors presumably will get 100% of their annual salary as they are simply shifting their non-teaching work to the strike period.

So it is mostly the students who suffer from a prolonged strike.

Comment on the January 19 Spring Festival Gala 2009 Show at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa

The show was really great and mostly of a fairly high culture nature suited to the NAC as a venue (dual erhu-violin concerto with Ottawa Symphony, etc.) I was happy with it as it really highlighted to Canadians what a rich culture and civilization China has.

The Chinese Embassy should be doing more of this sort of positive soft diplomacy in my opinion. On the rest of the troupe's stops of the tour in the States it is more of a "united front" thing designed to maintain identity with the PRC among people of Chinese origin who have resettled abroad. So in the States the show is mostly in Chinese including more popular contemporary numbers and stuff inaccessible to English speakers such as comic dialogues.

Anyway the Chinese Ambassador Lan Lijun appeared rightly very pleased with the version of the show put on in Canada.

Everybody (including me) hopes "Dashan" will take my place as co-MC next year.

Southam Hall appeared to have been sold out, but I doubt this show generates a profit.

Announcement of Chinese Spring Festival Show at National Arts Centre in Ottawa January 16 for which I will be Co-MC

SPRING FESTIVAL GALA 2009

East Meets West

Ancient and Modern China Combine to Celebrate the Chinese New Year

at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa

Friday, January 16 at 8:00 p.m.

A visual and musical masterpiece, The Spring Festival Gala 2009, the Spring Festival Gala 2009 will feature 50 leading artists and musicians from China, including the China Broadcasting Performing Arts Troupe, in collaboration with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra.

The glorious history of the Middle Kingdom, the beauty and the incredible diversity of the ethnicities and landscapes of China, will be captured through music, dance and visual spectacle producing a multi-disciplinary celebration of talent, rhythm and harmony.

Seven traditional Chinese instruments will be showcased individually and with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, "Master of String" of Hu from China, Ms. Jiang Kemei, will perform a double concerto with the music master of OSO to provide a truly unique 'East-meets-West' musical experience.

A group of young girls from the recently affected earthquake region of Sichuan will be telling the rich and colourful history of the region through traditional dance.
Northern China culture will also be illustrated by the distinctive throat singing talent of Black Steed, a quintet Mongolian male singing group that also demonstrates traditional Mongolian musical instruments.

Maestro of China National Peking Opera House will perform the episode from the well known Monkey King story, the Journey to the West. Two renowned visual artists demonstrate for the audience the true sense of Chinese culture by the on-stage painting and calligraphy in the background of traditional Chinese music instrument playing.

International award winning acrobats, dancers, singers and musicians make up the full cast of this truly unique cultural experience designed for the whole family. This feast of artistry reflects the highest quality of Chinese performing arts on the world stage today. It will surely be one of the major cultural attractions in the National Capital Region in 2009.

Tickets for the Spring Festival Gala 2009 are available from the NAC Box Office, Ticketmaster and local Chinese community outlets. Prices range from $20.00 to $80 for regular tickets. www.springfestivalgala.ca

Charter 08 Arrests

After the issuing of the Charter 08 (see http://charlesburton.blogspot.com/2008/12/english-translation-of-charter-08-now.html) signed initially by several hundred prominent Chinese intellectuals Liu Xiaobo was arrested on October 8.  Since then the Charter has been signed by thousands more.  But to my knowledge only Mr. Liu is being held. 

My interpretation is that if the Chinese authorities arrested more people for attaching their names to this document, this would embolden many more of their colleagues who agree with the content of the Charter but are afraid to sign for fear of political persecution.  It would be like a "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scenario: the more arrested, the longer the list of signatories.

Political opposition to the status quo of one Party rule in China appears to be coalescing through this process.

China Meetings and the Chatham House Rule

These days well night every academic conference on China or NGO "consultations" with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs are held under the "Chatham House Rule"

This rule is explained on the Chatham website (http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/about/chathamhouserule/) like this:

"The Chatham House Rule reads as follows:

'When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.'

The world-famous Chatham House Rule may be invoked at meetings to encourage openness and the sharing of information."

But I wonder why participants in meetings about China find it necessary to conceal their identities when stating an opinion on or interpretation of contemporary Chinese politics?   What are we afraid of?  Isn't openness and transparency what we ask of our Chinese counterparts?  Why do we not ask it of ourselves?

 

Worry about Robert Fowler, Louis Guay and Huseyin Celil

According to media reports it appears that the fate of the Canadian diplomats, Robert Fowler and Louis Guay who vanished while travelling in Niger remains unknown to us.  We also don't know the status of Huseyin Celil presumably still in prison in Xinjiang.  Are they still alive?  Are they well?  Are they being subject to torture?  

On the one hand we lack information on what Fowler, Guay and Celil were really doing so far from Canada.  And on the other we don't know their subsequent fate when things went badly wrong.

I feel a sense of despair about not knowing, about the asking and getting no answers.  

I pray for their safe return to their anxious families here in Canada.

I am Speaking at National Library in Ottawa on January 15 at 7:30pm

The Reforms of Deng Xiaoping

by Professor Charles Burton

of Brock University

Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Library and Archives Canada, Room 156

395 Wellington Street, Ottawa

All are welcome.*

In the context of the 30^th anniversary year of the opening and reform policies of the new China, Professor Burton will review Chinese politics and economics prior to reform and opening up. He will take us through the momentous events of 1976, “The Year of the Dragon” starting with the April 5, 1976 movement (the Tiananmen people’s homage to the recently deceased Zhou Enlai), the consolidation of power by Mao’s political heir Hua Guofeng, his rivalry with Deng Xiaoping, and the October purge of the "Gang of Four". He will look at the factors accounting for Deng Xiaoping's rise to power and show why Deng's strategy to stimulate the economy while ensuring political and social stability proved very successful. He will then take us through the politics and economics in China after Deng Xiaoping's 1992 "Southern Tour" and the impact of Communist party leaders Zhao Ziyang, Hu Yaobang, Jiang Zemin on the reform policies, leading to the current President Hu Jintao's stamp of approval on Deng Xiaoping's legacy after 30 years of revolution 1949-1979 and 30 years of opening and reform from 1979-2009: What has been gained and what has been lost?

Dr. Burton has been Associate Professor of Political Science at Brock University since 1989. Since 1991 he has been borrowed twice from Brock by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to work in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing from 1991 to 93 and most recently from 1998 until 2000, as Counsellor for Political Affairs.

Dr. Burton received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1987 after studies at Cambridge University. He also spent three years at Fudan University in Shanghai in the late 1970s. His first job was with the Communications Security Establishment in the Department of National Defence in Ottawa. He is author and editor of books and articles about China and North Korea, his major fields of research and policy advice.

*********

As is our custom, tea and refreshments will be served. There will be a charge of $5 for non-CCFS members. The CCFS-Ottawa Annual Membership is $20 for individuals, $25 for a family and $12 for students.

For further information about the Society or this event, call L. Merklinger at 819-777-8434 or go to www.fccfa.ca/Ottawa. Membership forms are available at this website.

Condoleezza Rice to visit China Jan 7-8

BEIJING (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit China on January 7 and 8, the foreign ministry said here Friday, in her last scheduled trip before the Bush administration leaves office.

(http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090102/pl_afp/chinausdiplomacyrice)

Comment: Interesting. Brings to mind P.M. Chretien's reception of the Chinese President in Ottawa on Mr. Chretien's last day in office.

Geoff York's Final Comments from Beijing on Chinese MFA

"The Foreign Ministry is little more than a public-relations facade for the Chinese government. It is the weakest and least relevant department of the government, treated with contempt or neglect by China's more powerful security ministries. Foreign journalists and diplomats are obliged to deal with the Chinese Foreign Ministry because it is the only ministry that is routinely accessible yet it has so little clout in the Chinese system that its banquets and brickbats are little more than archaic rituals."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.WByorkblog20081219071901/WBStory/WByorkblog/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20081219.WByorkblog20081219071901

Mr. York will be leaving Beijing on December 28.  He will be the Globe and Mail's correspondent in South Africa.  His successor in Beijing will be Mark MacKinnon.

 

English translation of Charter 08 Now Available

The document released to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has been signed by over three hundred prominent Chinese citizens. It is written in conscious admiration of the founding of Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia, where, in January 1977, more than two hundred Czech and Slovak intellectuals formed a

loose, informal, and open association of people…… united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world.

The Chinese document calls not for ameliorative reform of the current political system but for an end to some of its essential features, including one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights and democracy.

It can be read in full at: http://crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class98/200812/20081210142700_12297.html

et en français:

http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/_PDF/other/Charte%2008_FRN.pdf

and original in Chinese:

http://crd-net.org/Article/lingbaxianzhang/200812/20081209130050_12266.html

China Refuses to Answer Questions from UN Panel on Torture Allegations

According to an Associated Press report (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081110/world/un_china_torture) China refused Monday to answer questions from a United Nations human rights panel about the alleged torture and disappearance of dissidents, or provide official figures on the mistreatment of detainees in its prisons.Campaigners have long criticized the country for failing to live up to a 1984 UN anti-torture accord, citing the secrecy of its courts and the persecution of lawyers who highlight abuses.

Li Baodong, China's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said his government had "zero tolerance for torture" and was making progress in stamping out abuse.

"The concept of prohibition of torture is gaining widespread recognition among the judiciary," he told a public meeting of the UN Committee Against Torture.

But Li and 31 other members of China's delegation rejected requests for detailed information on issues such as forced disappearances and prisoner abuse.

Three years ago, the UN's torture investigator said inmates told him they were forced to lie still for weeks, faced beatings with electric batons or sticks, or faced other ill-treatment. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also have documented cases where they say torture was committed by state officials.

Felice Gaer, one of the UN panel's 10 members, said she had hoped to receive more specific answers from China during the two-day hearing, which began Friday.

"The problem is not the absence of statistics but the inability to make these statistics public," she said.

Gaer also cited individual cases that China had been asked to explain, including the disappearance and prosecution of religious figures, human rights campaigners and lawyers.

Chinese officials addressed only one case, that of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, who in 1995 was chosen by the Dalai Lama to become the Panchen Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's second-highest ranking figure.

Nyima, who was six years old at the time, disappeared with his family soon after and has not been heard from since. Human rights groups say Nyima, now 19, is being held under house arrest by the Chinese authorities.

"Choekyi Nyima and his family are leading a normal life and they don't want to be disturbed," Shen Yang, an official with China's Ethnic Affairs Commission, told the committee.

The UN committee will issue a list of findings and recommendations on China later this month.

Comment: China Ratified the Convention Against Torture in 1998. Here is part of the text China agreed to abide by at that time: Article 20

1. If the Committee receives reliable information which appears to it to contain well-founded indications that torture is being systematically practised in the territory of a State Party, the Committee shall invite that State Party to co-operate in the examination of the information and to this end to submit observations with regard to the information concerned.

2. Taking into account any observations which may have been submitted by the State Party concerned, as well as any other relevant information available to it, the Committee may, if it decides that this is warranted, designate one or more of its members to make a confidential inquiry and to report to the Committee urgently.

3. If an inquiry is made in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the Committee shall seek the co-operation of the State Party concerned. In agreement with that State Party, such an inquiry may include a visit to its territory.

4. After examining the findings of its member or members submitted in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the Commission shall transmit these findings to the State Party concerned together with any comments or suggestions which seem appropriate in view of the situation.

5. All the proceedings of the Committee referred to in paragraphs I to 4 of this article shall be con fidential , and at all stages of the proceedings the co-operation of the State Party shall be sought. After such proceedings have been completed with regard to an inquiry made in accordance with paragraph 2, the Committee may, after consultations with the State Party concerned, decide to include a summary account of the results of the proceedings in its annual report made in accordance with article 24.

China Should Ensure that its Human Rights "National Action Plan" Amounts to More than a Publicity Stunt

Statement from Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) "a non-political, non-governmental network of grassroots and international activists promoting human rights and empowering grassroots activism in China. CHRD's objective is to support human rights activists in China, monitor human rights developments, and assist victims of human rights abuses. CHRD advocates approaches that are non-violent and based on rule of law. CHRD conducts research, provides information, organizes training, supports a program of small grants to human rights activists and researchers, and offers legal assistance."

作者：CHRD 文章来源：CHRD 点击数：25 更新时间：2008-11-7 11:07:10

China Should Ensure that its "National Action Plan" Amounts to More than a Publicity Stunt

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, November 7, 2008) –The Chinese government announced on November 4 that it is to draft its first "national action plan to protect human rights". Although CHRD welcomes the initiative, it is concerned that the plan will fall short of its stated objective of protecting human rights due to the following reasons:
The plan, as outlined thus far, is vague. It lacks details such as a concrete timetable for implementation of the plan or precisely the kind of actions that it will involve.
It is unclear why the State Council Information Office (responsible for publicizing official information domestically and promoting the Chinese government abroad) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (responsible for foreign relations) will be heading the government panel that drafts the plan.
The government panel will be advised by "ten human rights experts from key universities and academic institutions" and "NGOs". CHRD is concerned that these experts and organizations will only be those carefully hand-picked and controlled by the government. CHRD is particularly concerned that the drafting process excludes consultation with the wider public, especially independent human rights activists and genuinely independent NGOs.
The facts that the plan as currently outlined is vague and that its drafting is to be led by government agencies involved in promoting China's image abroad and advised by individuals who lack independence raise the suspicion that Chinese government has initiated the plan not to promote human rights but to placate the international community at a time when China is being reviewed by the UN Committee Against Torture (November 7 and 10) and will soon be reviewed by the Human Rights Council in its Universal Periodic Review mechanism in February 2009.

CHRD believes that a concrete national action plan could genuinely and effectively promote human rights if:
the Chinese government invites members of the public and civil society, especially independent human rights activists and groups, to participate in the drafting process;
the Chinese government makes a draft of this plan available to the public, involves it in a thorough process of consultation, and incorporates the public's opinion into the finalized plan;
the drafting panel is headed by the National People's Congress (NPC), the legislative body that is vested with the power to make laws that could effectively protect human rights;
the plan includes the establishment of a national human rights body, such as an independent National Commission on Human Rights, as exists in many other countries, to ensure that the plan will be implemented and effectively monitored; and
the plan addresses, among other areas of concern, the following five requests CHRD has made to the Chinese government and asked the UN Human Rights Council to consider during its Universal Periodic Review of China in February 2009:
(1) Take effective measures to implement the Convention against Torture.
(2) Abolish all systems of arbitrary detention.
(3) End the criminalization of freedom of speech and of the press.
(4) Cease Party and government control of the judiciary.
(5) Honor its commitment to protect human rights defenders.

http://crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class15/200811/20081107110710_11609.html

Dalai Lama Possibly Changing Tactics

The news today says that the Dalai Lama is calling a big meeting of Tibetan exiles to discuss what to do as the PRC government has not been negotiating sincerely with the Dalai Lama's group.

(http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081028/world/dalai_lama)

It is hard to assess if this will lead to a major change of tactics re: Tibetan sovereignty.  In my judgment, it is very unlikely that the Government of PRC will make any meaningful concessions to the Dalai Lama. 

The Tibetan tragedy continues.

Mei Ping's Unacceptable Characterization of the Parliament of Canada

I was told by e-mail this morning that in a speech in Montreal this week, the former ambassador of China to Canada (1998-2005), Mei Ping, referred to the Dalai Lama's 2006 honouring by the Canadian House of Commons as "so-called honorary citizenship." But there is nothing "so called" about it. This honour was a unanimous resolution of the Parliament of Canada supported by all parties. Mr. Mei's characterizing it this way is an insult to the dignity of our Parliament.

===============

Vancouver, Canada 9 September 2006 (AP) The Dalai Lama has been presented with honorary Canadian citizenship, joining only two other people to have received the honour.

The decision by Canada's parliament to award citizenship to the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader has drawn criticism from China, which continues to rule Tibet.

"Welcome to our great country," Immigration Monte Minister Solberg told the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Saturday in front of a crowd of about 12,000. "We will welcome you each and every time you return to Canada to share your message of kindness and compassion."

The normally talkative Dalai Lama seemed at a loss for words.

"Now I am also a citizen of this country," he said. "I am honored to receive this citizenship."

Canada has previously granted honorary citizenship to South African leader Nelson Mandela and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved Jews from extermination during World War II.

Solberg presented the Nobel Peace Prize laureate with a framed copy of the parliamentary motion granting him citizenship. Prior to his arrival, the crowd spontaneously burst into the country's national anthem, "O Canada."

Amanda Zhao Murdered in Burnaby in 2002 and Her Family Suffers Still

I am appalled at how badly the grieving parents of Amanda Zhao has been treated by our diplomats in Beijing.  The fact that her brutal murderer has not been made accountable for his awful crimes is simply disgraceful. I feel personally grateful to Jason Kenney for all the work he has done on this matter.