US and China talks "unparalleled"

This news item gives me pause for thought:

"US and China talks "unparalleled"
July 28, 2009 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US and China have agreed to cooperate on difficult foreign policy problems such as North Korea and Iran's nuclear programmes as well as counter-terror and climate change.
Mrs Clinton described as unparalleled the range of issues discussed between US officials and Chinese envoys during two days of high-level talks this week.
She also conceded that on human rights both sides had candid and respectful exchanges"
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/world/us+and+china+talks+unparalleled/3287497"

There have been some indications in recent months that China is edging away from supporting the incompetent régimes it is allied to in Burma and North Korea in favour of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma and less ideological political factions in North Korea that could prove to be more responsible in conforming to international norms of governance and international relations. Now it appears that China and the U.S. have just completed their most frank, productive, and collaborative consultations on bilateral and multilateral relations since China and the U.S. established diplomatic relations in 1979. I feel a sense of cautious optimism as to how this will develop in the months and years ahead. That being said my cautious optimism with regard to Chinese Communist Government intentions has been proven misplaced many times before. But nevertheless I remain realistically hopeful. Best to be neither naive nor the intractable cynic.

New U.S. Ambassador to China on HR Dialogue in Senate Hearing

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman spoke to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committeeon Thursday. At the hearing he indicated:
"I look forward to a robust engagement with China on human rights," said Huntsman, who was a Mormon missionary in China in his youth and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese.
He said human rights has been "an on-again, off-again discussion" between the U.S. and China. He said he'd like to "regularize and systematize" human rights talks "so that it isn't a once a year discussion where the talking points are pulled out and then dispensed with.
After the hearing, Huntsman was mobbed by Chinese news media. He answered their questions in Mandarin."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_go_co/us_huntsman_china

Pidgin Uyghur Highway Signs and Tragedy of Han Ignorance

I strongly recommend these two articles on Xinjiang:

1. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/07/09/how_china_wins_and_loses_xinjiang

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11xinjiang.html


While I don't see any simple solution to the problem of incompatible competing ethnic nationalisms, it seems to me that the Government in Beijing could do much better in extending Uyghurs genuine respect and dignity.  This could ease the anger and resentment that many Uyghurs feel.  The current bungling heavy handed and ignorant Chinese Government policies in Xinjiang clearly only exacerbate deeply held sensitivities on both sides.  I thank God that in Canada our major ethnic cleavage between anglophones and francophones is managed by Governments in such a way that today we see little violent expression of historical resentments.

Fragment from Report on Arrests of Rio Tinto Execs in China

"Chinese authorities on Sunday arrested four Rio Tinto employees, including the group's top iron ore salesman in China, Australian Stern Hu, alleging they were involved in stealing state secrets. The affair has cast a shadow over Australia-China relations.
Australian papers were critical of Rudd on Friday, with most calling it a crisis for his center-left government and pointing to a serious deterioration in Canberra's relationship with its second largest export market.
"There is an air of contempt in the way the Chinese authorities have failed to respond to Australian government requests for information and for consular access to Mr Hu until today," wrote the Australian newspaper's foreign editor, Greg Sheridan.
"What does the much touted Australia-China relationship add up to if Beijing treats Canberra with such conspicuous discourtesy and indifference?" Sheridan wrote.
Rudd said Australian diplomats had made "strong" representations to Chinese officials and diplomats from the Beijing embassy were expected to gain consular access to Hu later on Friday."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090709/wl_nm/us_australia_china_rudd

Tragedy in Xinjiang

Similar to the situation in Tibet, the source of the ongoing conflict in Xinjiang is that the Han and the Uyghurs have incompatible interpretations of the history of the same territory.  The Han are passionate that Xinjiang is an integral part of their sacred Chinese Motherland.  The Uyghurs with equal passion see their East Turkestan homeland as illegitimately colonized by a foreign power.  This is a question of recognition of identity, the stuff of men's souls.  People are irrationally ready to sacrifice their lives for genuine recognition of their religious and cultural ethnicity and to assert the political destiny of their national identity.

China's policy has been to engender economic development in Xinjiang as a means to bring the Uyghurs into the great project of China's Han-led rise.  But exactly contrary to the Chinese Communist Party's expectations, the more Uyghurs achieve middle class standards of living, the more Uyghur nationalistic they are likely to become.

In the meantime the level of anger reaches a fever pitch and violence ensues and there is terribly bloody death and destruction.

Comment on Chinese FM Visit to Ottawa

I am interested by the Canada-China Business Council's assertion that Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi is making a "sudden visit" to Canada and the CCBC's indication that the Government of China and not the Government of Canada has asked the CCBC to make arrangements for Mr. Yang in Canada:
"The Canadian business community has an unexpected but very welcome opportunity to stand behind our frequently-voiced and strongly-held beliefs that China is critical to our future. Following recent successful visits of Ministers Day and Cannon, China's Foreign Minister, YANG Jiechi, will make a sudden trip to Canada next week, and the Government of China has contacted us and requested an opportunity to connect with CCBC members over lunch on Tuesday, June 23, in Ottawa.
The foreign minister's invitation is a clear response to the business community's ongoing efforts and strong voice for renewal of the Canada-China relationship and the importance of close diplomatic relations at all levels to business success in China. The Canadian business community has this opportunity, despite very short notice, to demonstrate to the government of Canada and, of equal importance, to the government of China, our support for the efforts from both governments to accelerate a renewal of deep ties.
We are inviting the premiers who accompanied us on our visit to China last November, plus Canada's most senior political figures, and this letter is a call to action to Canada's most senior business leaders to be present and visible at this very important event. Our honorary chair, Mr. Andre Desmarais, will be present, and we expect excellent representation from Canada's senior executives.
We acknowledge that time is tight and schedules are busy, but please make every effort to attend this luncheon. It will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase your company's support for the re-energizing of the Canada-China relationship over the past few months."
An account of Mr. Yang's speech at the luncheon can be found here:  http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/worldnextdoor/archive/2009/06/23/lunch-with-yang-jiechi-china-s-foreign-minister.aspx and here: http://www.canada.com/Canada+China+relations+upswing+Chinese+foreign+minister/1727279/story.html and here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/friendlier-china-shows-willingness-to-embrace-canadas-new-tone/article1194343/

DFAIT's announcement of a photo opportunity with Mr. Cannon and Mr. Yang at 6:15pm on the 22nd prior to their scheduled bilateral meeting at the Pearson Building includes the observation:
"China is the world's fastest-growing major economy and is playing an increasingly important role on the global stage, making the Canada-China bilateral relationship more important than ever." I very much endorse this notion.

Nevertheless, Mr. Cannon has indicated that he is not willing to resume a government to government "bilateral human rights dialogue" with China as such. This could be causing tension with the Government of China as other nations may follow Canada's lead and refuse to participate in this format of engagement with the Chinese authorities on human rights. This would be on the basis that after more than 10 years of dialoguing this format of engagement has proven to be ineffective in promoting social justice in China. This is quite strongly supported by China's flat rejection (as articulated quite bluntly by the Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong) of most of the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council following the HRC review of China's human rights record earlier this year.

David Shambaugh on Role of the Central Party School

In a recently published article David Shambaugh writes of the Central Party School as follows: "In additional to teaching courses in each of these subject areas and conducting their own research, the CPS faculty has long performed the important role as a think tank (zhineng ku 智能库) for the Central Committee and high Party organs."  Later on he refers to "the key role played by the CPS as the Party's primary think tank for generating new ideas and policies concerning political and ideological reform."  Shambaugh gives much detail on this point in the latter part of the article.


"Training China's Political Elite: The Party School System," The China Quarterly, 197, December 2008, pp. 827-844.



(http://charlesburton.blogspot.com/2009/06/david-shambaugh-on-role-of-chinese.html)

Two Extracts from Calgary Herald on Canadian Foreign Policy

"The Harper government has consistently argued that its foreign policy positions are driven by principle. On China, in particular, one Tory insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government’s criticism of Beijing has been driven by the personal convictions of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, rather than any political calculation.

A government spokeswoman echoed the argument that Harper’s policy is driven by political principles, not pandering.

'We make foreign policy decisions based on all Canadians’ interests, supporting our common values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,' Catherine Loubier, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, wrote in an e-mailed statement.

. . .

The Harper government’s criticism of China on human rights, which has been toned down after ongoing objections from both big business and the Chinese-Canadian community, doesn’t qualify as an example of pandering, said the Tory insider.

He said Kenney has made clear to party members he has pushed an outspoken position based on personal principles even though many Chinese-Canadians, regardless of their views on communism, have resented the public criticism of their “mother country” — especially during the 2008 Olympics that Harper refused to attend."

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Catering%20minorities%20puts%20pressure%20foreign%20policy/1695307/story.html

Nancy Pelosi defends human rights advocacy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she strongly challenged Chinese leaders on human rights abuses during her trip to the country last week, pushing back on the notion that she has been less aggressive about the issue since she became speaker.

“We were very frank about human rights,” Pelosi told a Brookings Institution luncheon Friday afternoon. “They knew who they were meeting with.”

“There was no way that we would go to China and not talk about human rights,” she said.

Pelosi has come under criticism over reports that she ducked the human rights issue during her trip to China.


Full text at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/23407.html

Statement in the Canadian House of Commons on 1989 Tiananmen Square Protest

Mr. Scott Reid (Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, today marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic events in Tiananmen Square. At the time, Canada took a strong, principled stand and unequivocally condemned the communist government's murderous crackdown on its own peaceful citizens.

For this, the government of the day was criticized by some who felt that standing up for human rights in China could jeopardize Canada's investment opportunities in that country.

In addition to the demonstrators, among the heroes of Tiananmen Square are the Chinese government officials, such as Zhao Ziyang, who sympathized with and supported the protestors at great risk to their own personal safety.

That is why, when the world learned of Zhao Ziyang's death in 2005, Canadians were once again proud to see our current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism visit Zhao's family home to pay his personal respects. Once again, as with our principled stand in 1989, the Minister of Immigration was criticized by some who were concerned that this would damage Canada's commercial interests in China.

History can never be purged of the truth, and memory is more powerful than oppression. We hope that China will use the opportunity to examine the --

The Speaker:
The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&DocId=3959285#SOB-2810187

The June 4th Anniversary and Canada-China Relations

My op-ed "Tiananmen: 20 years later, suppression still reigns" was published in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on June 4, 2009. It can be read at: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1125512.html or here. My original title for this piece is: "The June 4th Anniversary and Canada-China Relations"

PM Announcement of David Mulroney as Ambassador to China

PM announces appointment of Canada's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China

27 May, 2009
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today the appointment of David Mulroney, currently Deputy Minister of the Afghanistan Task Force in the Privy Council Office, as Canada’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

“David Mulroney brings foreign policy expertise and proven leadership to this position, making him ideally suited to represent Canada in our important relationship with China,” said the Prime Minister. “Mr. Mulroney has made an invaluable contribution to his country as Deputy Minister of the Afghanistan Task Force and he will continue to represent Canada with great distinction.”

A career public servant and diplomat, Mr. Mulroney has held positions of increasing responsibility within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Privy Council Office. Mr. Mulroney first joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1982, serving abroad in Seoul, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei. In 2001, he was appointed as Assistant Deputy Minister, first for the Asia-Pacific Region, then for broader Bilateral Relations. In 2006, he joined the Privy Council Office as Foreign and Defence Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister. Mr. Mulroney served as Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative to the G8 Summit from 2007 to 2008. In February 2008, Mr. Mulroney was appointed as Deputy Minister of the Afghanistan Task Force in the Privy Council Office.

http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&id=2592

China Background of Current UK Ambassador to China

Sir William Ehrman was appointed as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China in January 2006.

Sir William joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1973 after graduating from Cambridge University with a first class Honours degree in Chinese. After language study in Hong Kong, he was posted to Beijing from 1976 to 1978. Sir William subsequently served in the UK Mission to United Nations before returning to Beijing in 1983 where he served as a member of the negotiating team on the future of Hong Kong. Sir William was later appointed Political Adviser to the Governor of Hong Kong from 1989 to 1993.

Notice of Talk: "What the Rise of China Means for Canada"

What the Rise of China Means for Canada

May 21, 2009 8:00pm to 9:00pm

What

NOTICE OF THE SEVENTH MEETING OF CIC-SASKATOON - 2008-2009 PROGRAMME

DATE: Thursday May 21, 2009

PLACE: President¹s Room, Saskatoon Club, 417 - 21st Street East (Dinner ­ Main Floor)

TIME: 8:00 p.m.

SPEAKER: Dr. Charles Burton, Professor of Political Science, Brock University, and CIC Research Associate

TOPIC: What the Rise of China Means for Canada

The ascent of China to greater heights on the world stage has coincided with Canada's progressive loss of political and financial influence within this region. Dr Burton's research leads to the proposition that Canada desperately needs to renew its China policy. Join us as Dr Burton leads us through his research as he proposes some of the steps our country needs to take to adapt to these new realities.

Charles Burton is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Brock University. Dr Burton's position as Research Associate in the Canadian International Council is a recent accolade in an academic career has taken him, among other places, Cambridge University, University of Toronto, and Fudan University in Shanghai. He has written extensively on China and North Korea, and his expertise has been utilized by Department of National Defence and the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.

DINNER: If you plan to attend the dinner, please meet at 6:00 p.m. Cost per person is $24.00. Please call Virginia or Tanis at 966-4654 by Tuesday, May 19, 2009, before 4:00 p.m. Calls cannot be accepted after that time.

Reservations for dinner cannot be made for persons who call late.

Reservations will be made for all persons who call on time and such persons will be expected to pay even if they can not or do not attend. Persons with reservations who cannot attend, are encouraged to find someone else to take their place.

Tiananmen, 20 ans plus tard

Tiananmen, 20 ans plus tard

avec

Cai Chongguo

Réfugié politique en France depuis 1989 et

et auteur de J'étais à Tian An'men

Charles Burton

Politicologue de l’Université Brock

et

Rowena Xiaoqing He

Chercheuse au Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies

de l’Universtité Harvard

Lundi 1 juin 2009

19 h

Centre d’archives de Montréal

535, avenue Viger Est

(Métro Berri-UQAM)

RSVP : lchicoine@dd-rd.ca ou (514) 283-6073 poste 227

Cai Chongguo, originaire de Wuhan en Chine, il vit en France depuis 1989 où il a été reçu comme le réfugié politique à la suite du massacre de la Place Tiananmen. Il est rédacteur en chef de l'édition chinoise du China Labour Bulletin. Il est l'auteur de Chine: l'envers de la puissance (Mango, Paris, 2005) et de J'étais à Tian An'men (L'Esprit du Temps, Paris, 2009

Charles Burton est diplômé du programme d’histoire de la pensée chinoise ancienne du Département de philosophie de l’Université Fudan. Il a été conseiller aux affaires politiques à l’ambassade du Canada en Chine de 1991 à 1993 et de 1998 à 2000. Il enseigne au Département de science politique de l’Université Brock depuis 1989.

Rowena Xiaoqing He est chercheuse invitée au Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies de l’Université Harvard et détentrice d'une bourse de perfectionnement post-doctoral du Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada. Elle s’intéresse plus particulièrement à la vie politique dans la société chinoise, à l’éducation citoyenne et à la démocratie.

June 7: An excellent summary of the discussions that evening can be found at: http://chinaatourgates.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiananmen-roundtable-in-montreal.html

From Tiananmen ‘89 to Charter ‘08: China’s Road to Democracy

Toronto Association for Democracy in China

Tiananmen + 20

Public Forum

From Tiananmen ‘89 to Charter ‘08: China’s Road to Democracy

May 31, 2009 (Sunday) 1 - 4 pm

Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) Auditorium
University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto

Welcome

Kari DEHLI

Chair, Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education

Remarks

Hon. Consiglio DI NINO

Senator, Canadian Parliament

Panel One: Looking Back

WANG Dan

Ph.D. Harvard University and former Tiananmen student leader

CAI Chongguo

China Labour Bulletin, France and former union organizer

Jan WONG

Writer-Journalist and former Globe and Mail Beijing bureau chief

SHENG Xue

Moderator

Panel Two: Moving Forward

Charles BURTON

Professor of Political Science, Brock University and former attaché, Canadian Embassy, Beijing

GAO Wenqian

Senior Policy Advisor, Human Rights in China and former official biographer of Zhou Enlai

Rowena HE Xiaoqing

SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University

Cheuk KWAN

Moderator

Supporting Organizations

Amnesty International, Canada-Hong Kong Link, China Labour Bulletin,

China Rights Network, Federation for a Democratic China,

Human Rights in China, PEN Canada, Rights and Democracy

U.S. appoints Utah Governor with fluent Mandarin as Ambassador to China

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Republican governor whose name has come up as a potential challenger to President Barack Obama in 2012 intends go to work for the president as ambassador to China, a source close to the governor said. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese from his days as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan, has accepted the appointment, said the source, who would speak only on condition of anonymity ahead of a White House announcement expected Saturday.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22589.html

China's Zhao decries June 4 "tragedy" from the grave

There are reports today that a memoir by Zhao Ziyang based on tapes made secretly over his years of house arrest will be published in an English-language version by Simon and Schuster entitled Prisoner of the State. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090514/wl_nm/us_china_tiananmen

I am sceptical of the reliability of this document unless the tapes it is allegedly transcribed from can be made available.

National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) and China's Political Future

The Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the "National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)" on April 13. It responds to Recommendation 5 of the "Report of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of China" issued on March 3 which calls on China to publish and "swiftly implement" a human rights action plan "as soon as possible." It was also issued in the context of the high degree of publicity given inside and outside China to the "Charter 08" a manifesto signed by over 303 prominent Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists to promote political reform and democratization in the People's Republic of China released in December 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Plan is strong on promotion of economic, social and cultural rights indicating that the Government of China "strives to ensure that all the people enjoy their rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing." The document also acknowledges "the principle that all kinds of human rights are interdependent and inseparable." Thus, the Action Plan "encourages the coordinated development of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights." But while China signed the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998, progress to ratification has been very slow. Moreover, the Action Plan makes no concrete reference to future Chinese Government intentions with regard to issues that had been highlighted in Charter 08 such as movement to genuine electoral democracy, independence of China's judiciary, true freedom of the press, or the right of citizenship to participate in freely formed organizations including trade unions, religious organizations, and associations who function to influence public opinion on issues including environmental and ethnic concerns. In mid-January, China's number 4-ranked official, Jia Qinglin published an article in the theoretical journal Qiu Shi that the Chinese Communist Party should "build a defensive line against interference by erroneous Western ideas" rejecting the suitability of a multiparty system or separation of powers for China.

Nevertheless the Action Plan does include some concrete commitments such as "Effective measures shall be taken to prohibit such acts as corporal punishment, abuse, insult of detainees or the extraction of confessions by torture. All interrogation rooms must impose a physical separation between detainees and interrogators. The state establishes and promotes the system of conducting a physical examination of detainees before and after an interrogation."

The above example notwithstanding, in general while this Human Rights Action Plan is short on specific commitments, it does empower human rights discourse in China by the simple fact of the existence of a such an authoritative government statement on human rights to which the Government of China can be held accountable. Hopefully the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) will lead to greater respect for the rights of citizenship of people in China by political authorities at all levels in China in years ahead.

Chinese Ambassador Lan Lijun Statement to Senate For Aff Ctee April 29 that DFAIT had Intention to Revive the Canada-China Human Rights Dialogue

"China is willing to conduct human rights dialogues with other countries to exchange ideas, to have a better understanding and to improve where we need to improve. With Canada, we had established a human rights dialogue. We conducted human rights dialogues on several rounds, but due to reasons on Canada's part, that dialogue has been stopped. I understand the government has an intention to revive that mechanism."

http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/2/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/fore-e/47176-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=2&comm_id=8


I believe that the concerns expressed in my 2006 report for DFAIT on the Human Rights Dialogue are still valid. It can be read here:
English: http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~cburton/Assessment%20of%20the%20Canada-China%20Bilateral%20Human%20Rights%20Dialogue%2019APR06.pdf
Français: http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~cburton/Evaluation%20du%20dialogue%20bilateral.htm