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Harper warns China as rights dispute threatens to expand

A row between Canada and China over human rights sharpened late on Friday, when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned Beijing against expanding the dispute into bilateral trade.

"I would point out to any Chinese official that just as a matter of fact, China had a huge trade surplus with this country, so it would be in the interest of the Chinese government to make sure any dealings on trade are fair and above board," Harper told reporters in Halifax.

The rebuke followed remarks by a Chinese envoy, cited in a local newspaper, in which the official said that Canada's strong human rights criticism of Beijing could threaten future trade between the two countries.

"The economic relationship goes hand in hand with the political relationship," said He Yafei (何亞非), China's assistant minister of foreign affairs for North America, in a rare interview with the Globe and Mail newspaper.

"We need to have a sound political basis of mutual trust for the economic relationship to flourish. That's why we need to work harder to improve mutual trust," he told the Toronto-based newspaper.

His remarks come as Canada expressed deep concern over the fate of a dual Canadian-Chinese citizen, Huseyin Celil, 37, who was arrested and jailed in China on terrorism charges in March last year.

The imam alleged in a courtroom last week in Urumqi, Xinjiang Province, home to a large Muslim Uighur population that China considers rebellious, that Chinese secret police tortured and starved him, and threatened to bury him alive, according to reports.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) said last week that Celil was "an important member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement" and "a criminal."

Canada has been denied consular access to him, because China does not acknowledge his Canadian citizenship.

But Harper said he thought "it's always the obligation of the government of Canada to vocally and publicly stand up for that Canadian citizen."

The diplomatic row was the latest in a series of irritants that have included talks between Canada's Secretary of State for Multicul-turalism Jason Kenney and the Dalai Lama, accusations that China is spying on Canadian corporations and Canada's failure to deport Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing (賴昌星), the alleged boss of a multi-billion-dollar smuggling ring and stalled trade negotiations.

"I cannot say Canada is squandering [the relationship] now, but in practical terms Canada is lagging behind in its relations with China," He Yafei told the Globe and Mail. "Trade is growing, but not fast enough. Investment is growing, but not fast enough. The overall relationship has room for improvement."

Celil fled China a decade ago, arrived in Canada in 2001 as a refugee and became a Canadian citizen, but Beijing refuses to acknowledge his Canadian citizenship and has denied Canadian diplomats access to him.

He was arrested in Uzbekistan in February last year while visiting his wife's parents and immediately deported to China.

His case was brought up during a meeting between Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on the sidelines of an Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi in November.
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