Globe and Mail: Put rights at top of China agenda, PM urged

Friday, September 2, 2005

Ottawa -- Prime Minister Paul Martin has to raise the issue of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners quickly when he meets with his Chinese counterpart next week, three MPs said yesterday.

At a news conference, the MPs said that the federal government can help stem the human-rights abuses in China by clearly stating that it is a Canadian priority. Mr. Martin is meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao next week.

"[Mr. Martin] has a profound obligation to give priority in his discussions not simply to trade matters, but to the human rights of the people of China," New Democrat MP Ed Broadbent said.

Independent MP David Kilgour, a former Liberal minister, said Mr. Martin will have the biggest impact if he raises the issue at the start of his meeting.

"If we learn afterwards that the Prime Minister raised this late in the conversation, then President Hu will know perfectly well that Canada does not give a tinkers or a darn about this thing," Mr. Kilgour said.

Conservative MP Scott Reid said a unanimous motion in the House of Commons in 2002 helped improve the situation of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners with family members in Canada, and that Mr. Martin can make a difference in the cases of people in prison in China.

"This is Paul Martin's chance to show that human rights in China are a top priority for his government, just as they are for so many Canadians who have family links to China," Mr. Reid said.

Falun Gong is a meditation group that was banned [and persecuted brutally] in China after thousands of members staged a surprise peaceful demonstration outside the residential compound of Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing in 1999.

Tens of thousands of members remain in detention and hundreds may have died in custody from torture, abuse or neglect, according to a U.S. State Department report. Amnesty International and other human-rights groups say the Falun Gong movement in China is a key target of repression, with many members detained arbitrarily.

Mr. Hu is set to arrive in Ottawa on Sept. 8 and meet Mr. Martin the next day. Mr. Hu will head to Toronto on Sept. 10 for a banquet. From there, he will travel to the United States, then to Vancouver on Sept. 16 for a two-day visit.

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