China Daily commented on Harper’s visit to China, saying that after years of being firm concerning human rights issues, Harper finally saw the light, became realistic and traded it for economic cooperation with China.
The commentary said that Canada’s support for Falun Gong, the Taiwan question, and the Tibet issue has greatly hurt the Sino-Canada relationship. On the contrary, the U.S. was quite pragmatic. Bush raised Sino-US ties to their best period in history, and Obama downplayed ideology and declared to respect other countries’ choices concerning internal matters. Finally, the economic pressure drew Harper to mend his China policy.
The commentary said “… if Canada respects China over issues concerning China’s core interests, bilateral ties could realize sound development.”
The Chinese version listed meeting the Dalai Lama in 2007 and refusing to attend the Beijing Olympic Games as Harper’s transgressions, which were not mentioned in the English version.
Source: People’s Daily, December 2, 2009
http://world.people.com.cn/GB/10494985.html
China Daily, December 2, 2009
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2009-12/02/content_9098381.htm