China's show of pique

China's show of pique

Published On Fri Dec 04 2009


If Prime Minister Stephen Harper was taken aback by China's jab at him yesterday for waiting "too long" to visit, he shouldn't have been. As Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae noted, Harper invited an "unprecedented public rebuke" by letting relations "fester" for four years. The Chinese felt neglected. Yesterday, they paraded their pique.

While Harper brought this awkwardness on himself by obtusely neglecting a $53 billion trade partner, our second largest, Beijing won't win friends among ordinary Canadians by taking an undiplomatic poke at our PM during an official visit. That will just get a hockey-playing nation's elbows up. China's leaders are no saints themselves.

The best that can be said of their chiding welcome is that it legitimizes some blunt talking from the Canadian side the next time our interests diverge. That's a useful take-away for a Prime Minister who is still on a steep learning curve in foreign affairs. China's leaders speak loudly, even hector, when their interests are at stake. They have now licensed us to be no less forceful.

Even so, it would be wrong to exaggerate this show of irritation.

Apart from some bad Chinese press reviews, Harper got a red-carpet reception. And the leader who matters most, President Hu Jintao, the head of state, was nothing but the gracious host. While he noted, twice, that this was Harper's first visit, he welcomed it as "of great significance." And he promised that "China is ready to work with Canada" to strengthen our 40-year record of friendly and cooperative ties. Officials will meet in the new year to discuss, among other issues, trade and investment, energy and resources, infrastructure, telecoms, transport, high tech and financial services.

It fell to Premier Wen Jiabao, China's number two leader, to put its irritation on the record. "Five years (between high contacts) is too long a time for China/Canada relations," he chided. "And that is why there are comments in the media that your visit is one that should have taken place earlier." That would be the state-controlled media.

Yet Wen then softened the jab by expressing the hope that "the China/Canada relationship will turn a new page" despite friction over fugitive Lai Changxing, Huseyin Celil, the Dalai Lama and human rights.

And knowing that Canada is worth courting, China's leaders made sure Harper doesn't head home with nothing but lost face in tow.

They announced that they finally are making Canada an "approved destination" for business, tourism and students. That could be worth $100 million to our tourism sector, Ottawa says. The Chinese are also opening a new consulate in Montreal to foster stronger "people to people" contacts. They have eased an import ban on Canadian pork worth $50 million. And both sides have agreed to beef up exchanges of green technologies, to work out a deal to better protect Canadian investors and to step up cooperation in science and agriculture.

Despite the touch of frost, this makes for a productive trip. It pales beside former Liberal leader Jean Chrétien's energetic Team Canada missions, which produced billions of dollars in deals. But it gets the relationship moving in the right direction again.