China’s foreign minister berated a Canadian journalist for questioning Beijing’s human rights record, saying she had “no right to speak” about the issue.
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Visiting foreign ministers usually stick to talking to their counterparts, but Wang also inserted a meeting with Trudeau, which underscores the importance the government is placing on China at a pivotal time.
At a joint news conference offered by Wang and Dion, Canadian journalists were limited to one question and a follow-up for both ministers.
“Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance – from where I don’t know”, he said on Wednesday [Thursday NZ time].
The IPolitics question was agreed to by a number of journalists representing several news organizations at the event.
Speaking in front of the Chinese representative, the journalist asked his Canadian counterpart Dion: “There’s no shortage of concerns about China’s treatment of human rights, including detention of [Canadian citizen] Kevin Garratt, not to mention its territorial ambitions in South China Sea”. “I don’t know where that comes from. And do you know China has written protection and promotion of human rights into our constitution?”
Wang said he had told Dion that China wanted to speed up the process of starting talks on a free trade deal.
“Do you know that China has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty?” the angry Chinese official went on.
“Given these concerns”, the journalist continued, “why is Canada pursuing closer ties with China and how does [Canada] plan to use these relationships to improve human rights and security in the region?” “When a auto breaks down on the road, perhaps we need to get off the vehicle and to see where the problem lies”, he said.
“China must learn from other countries that there are acceptable norms of behaviour when dealing with other nations”, Conservative foreign affairs critic Tony Clement said in an interview with CBC News Thursday.
He also said there is a troubling tradition in the Liberal Party of being “deferential” to communist leadership in China in the pursuit of bolstered trade relations.
High seas geopolitical tensions in Asia and free trade aspirations hung over Wang’s visit to Ottawa, which also included a talk with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet.
The heart of what Wang said – that only China is equipped to understand China – is not new. China claims Garratt has been formally charged. This is significant because the disputed waters also include important global shipping lanes.
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Former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin had rosy relations with the Chinese regime, Clement noted, and they often “floated Canadian values down the river” in the pursuit of a better commercial relationship. The Chinese leader praised the vision of Trudeau’s late father, Pierre, for establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic in 1970 during a meeting at the G20 in Turkey.
