For Immediate Release
\nDecember 3, 2009<\/p>\n
Canada pays for Harper\u2019s ignorance towards China <\/strong><\/p>\n OTTAWA \u2013 Stephen Harper\u2019s refusal to engage with China for four years has hurt Canada\u2019s trade and tourism relations with that country, Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae said today.<\/p>\n \u201cChinese Premier Wen Jiabao\u2019s unprecedented public rebuke of Mr. Harper is proof of the price that Canada has paid for his immature and clumsy approach towards China,\u201d said Mr. Rae.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latest news \u2013 that we have obtained Approved Destination Status today from China \u2013 comes four years too late, as we were set to receive it in 2006 before Mr. Harper sabotaged the deal. That\u2019s four years of lost economic opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n When he met with Mr. Harper yesterday in Beijing for the first time ever, the Chinese Premier publicly said: \u201cFive years is too long a time for China-Canada relations and that\u2019s why there are comments in the media that your visit is one that should have taken place earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n “Mr. Harper\u2019s response to the Chinese rebuke only serves to underline his ignorant behaviour towards China,” added Mr. Rae. \u201cHis childish tit-for-tat counter-attack is a low-point in Canada\u2019s diplomatic international relations.\u201d<\/p>\n Previous Liberal governments \u2013 and the provinces \u2013 set the standard for good Canada-China relations. Prime Minister Chretien\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s export growth. We are also behind Brazil, Germany and Australia when it comes to our proportion of the Chinese import market.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 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,\u201d said Mr. Rae.<\/p>\n -30- For Immediate Release December 3, 2009 Canada pays for Harper\u2019s ignorance towards China OTTAWA \u2013 Stephen Harper\u2019s refusal to engage with China for fou…
\nContact:
\nOffice of the Hon. Bob Rae, 613-992-5234 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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