Foreign Correspondence

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Canada's Martin urges more business with China

See also:
China's Subversion of Canada
By 1997 Chinese economic involvement in Canada was already too advanced for correction, having special economic implications for political actors that trump security concerns.
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Canada's Martin urges more business with China
CTV.ca News Staff

December 7, 2004

Prime Minister Paul Martin said China's economy will soon be greater than that of the United States, and urged Canada to do more business with the Asian giant.

"We have to understand and engage with this new reality - a new China linked in new ways to an evolving world," Martin said Monday evening at the annual meeting of the Canada China Business Council in Toronto.

"And . . . members of our business community are at the forefront of this effort. Canadian businesses, large and small, should be doing what you have done - developing and implementing strategies for China."

Martin said the dollars to be made in China do not eclipse concerns about human rights abuses -- a topic he said he intends to bring up when he travels to China on a trade mission next month.

"We regularly engage the Chinese government at all levels, through dialogue and practical co-operation on human-rights issues," the Prime Minister said. "And I will be continuing that engagement at the highest levels."

Martin said China's economy is growing at about three times Canada's economic growth, and has fuelled interest in "our natural resources wealth."

Picking up on that line, Qiu Xianghua, vice-president of Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp, said in a speech Monday that China has huge energy needs.

Xianghua said China has only 1.8 per cent of the world's oil supply, but has 21 per cent of the world's population.
"China therefore cannot develop its country relying on its own resources," Xianghua said.

He specifically mentioned Alberta's oil sands region, which is second only to Saudi Arabia in oil reserves. However, he did not mention his company's reputed talks to buy Calgary-based Husky Energy Inc.

"China needs oil resources and has a big market," Xianghua said. "Canada needs a market, so to invest in Canada would be mutually beneficial and complementary to both countries."

Similar comments were made by Feng Xu, a vice-president of China Minmetals Corp., which is in talks to take over Noranda.

He said "we firmly believe our co-operation in mining and metals areas will grow and progress due to our complementary economies and our shared view of mutual benefit."

As Martin talked about doing more business with China, protesters gathered outside. The demonstrators were calling for a free Tibet.

Reports say one woman was taken to hospital with facial injuries after a confrontation with a police officer. She was later charged with assaulting a police officer, and assault with a weapon.

Another man was charged with breaching the peace.


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