Ottawa Considering Dropping Canada-China "Human-Rights Dialogue"
According to the Globe and Mail, Ottawa is considering abandoning the annual human-rights dialogue that takes place between Canada and China. Critics claim the dialogue is used by China as a way to divert attention from its human rights issues. The Chinese claim to be dealing with the problem by having a conference with a purportedly upstanding international citizen: Canada.
The talks have been running since 1997 and have accomplished very little except photo-ops and a few newspaper stories. That said, Chinese press has suggested there will be serious repercussions if Canada drops the talks. A better plan would be to continue with the talks but insist on doing some serious talking and try to limit the positive spin China can use the conference for.
Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061027.CHINA27/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/