For Immediate Release
December 3, 2009
Canada pays for Harper’s ignorance towards China
OTTAWA – Stephen Harper’s refusal to engage with China for four years has hurt Canada’s trade and tourism relations with that country, Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae said today.
“Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s unprecedented public rebuke of Mr. Harper is proof of the price that Canada has paid for his immature and clumsy approach towards China,” said Mr. Rae.
“The latest news – that we have obtained Approved Destination Status today from China – comes four years too late, as we were set to receive it in 2006 before Mr. Harper sabotaged the deal. That’s four years of lost economic opportunity.”
When he met with Mr. Harper yesterday in Beijing for the first time ever, the Chinese Premier publicly said: “Five years is too long a time for China-Canada relations and that’s why there are comments in the media that your visit is one that should have taken place earlier.”
“Mr. Harper’s response to the Chinese rebuke only serves to underline his ignorant behaviour towards China,” added Mr. Rae. “His childish tit-for-tat counter-attack is a low-point in Canada’s diplomatic international relations.”
Previous Liberal governments – and the provinces – set the standard for good Canada-China relations. Prime Minister Chretien’s 1994 Team Canada mission to China led to $9 billion in trade deals for Canadian companies, while Prime Minister Martin obtained an Agreement in Principle for Approved Destination Status in 2005.
During the first three years of the Harper government, Canada’s export growth to China stagnated, remaining only one percent of China’s total annual imports. Over the same period, the United States increased its exports to China by 70 percent, outpacing Canada’s export growth. We are also behind Brazil, Germany and Australia when it comes to our proportion of the Chinese import market.
“In just four years, Mr. Harper has unravelled all the good work that had been done under previous Liberal governments with his arrogant and cavalier approach to this critical relationship,” said Mr. Rae.
-30-
Contact:
Office of the Hon. Bob Rae, 613-992-5234
