SCMP: [Canadian Prime Minister] Chretien aims to discuss crackdown on Falun Gong

Thursday, February 8, 2001 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien will discuss the crackdown on the Falun Gong sect and other human rights issues when he meets Chinese officials in Beijing next week during a trade mission, senior Canadian officials said. The officials said on Tuesday the Team Canada mission - to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong - would be the largest of its kind in Canadian history, with more than 600 confirmed participants. Mr Chretien led the first Team Canada trade mission to China in 1994, when 65 new business deals worth C$8.9 billion (HK$47 billion) were announced. Since then, Canada's business presence in China has more than doubled, with at least 400 Canadian firms with offices or operations there. Mr Chretien has been widely criticised, both by opposition political parties in Canada and by members of his own governing Liberal Party, for putting trade before human rights. However, the officials insisted he would raise rights issues - including the clampdown on the Falun Gong movement - with Chinese leaders. Mr Chretien's visit coincides with an announcement by the Dutch Foreign Ministry on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Jozias van Aartsen had postponed a trip to China and the SAR after Beijing objected to a meeting in Hong Kong between Dutch Human Rights Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos and Falun Gong representatives in the SAR. About a month ago, China released Chinese-Canadian sculpture professor Zhang Kunlun, who had been sentenced to a labour farm for three years, to pave the way for Mr Chretien's visit. After his release, Mr Zhang claimed he was tortured while imprisoned. It was not clear if the Falun Gong would feature high on Mr Chretien's agenda but Beijing-based diplomats said the Dutch case could backfire on China if other foreign leaders also rejected Chinese efforts to dictate their itineraries. "The Netherlands made a strong statement and the Chinese may be happy that they prevented official foreign contact with Falun Gong," said one Western diplomat yesterday. "But what happens if others follow the Dutch example?" During his visit, Mr Chretien is scheduled to meet President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, Shi Guangsheng. In Hong Kong, Mr Chretien will meet Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa. The 2001 trade mission will include business representatives from each of Canada's 10 provinces and three northern territories.