Senator blasts Harper's stand on China

CanWest News Service; Vancouver Sun

Published: Thursday, February 22, 2007

Senator Jack Austin said former prime minister Jean Chretien was particularly successful in securing the release of political prisoners.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's "morally-righteous" criticism of China makes it less likely, not more, that Beijing will agree to release political prisoners such as Huseyin Celil, Liberal Senator Jack Austin said Wednesday in an interview marking his retirement from the Senate.

Austin, who has advocated closer Canada-China ties throughout his business and political career, said the government's focus on human rights will backfire for both political prisoners and Canadian businesses.

"It makes it even more difficult," said Austin, who hits the Senate's mandatory-retirement age of 75 on March 2. "How can they let him (Celil) go when it would say to the world, 'Oh, anybody who bashes us on moral high ground will get results from us?'"

Austin said the same dynamic makes it unlikely China will give Canada Approved Destination Status, which would allow Canada to tap into the potentially huge market of middle-class Chinese travelling overseas. Canada is one of the few countries in the world without ADS.

An agreement to improve protection of investor rights for Canadian firms operating in China is also at stake, he said.

Harper and his ministers have regularly blasted China's dismal human rights record, citing in particular the Celil case. The prime minister has said his government won't stop speaking out for the sake of the "almighty dollar."

The Chinese last year jailed the Canadian activist, who was born and raised in China and is a member of the Uyghur minority group, alleging he has terrorist links.

China does not recognize his Canadian citizenship.

A call and e-mail to Harper's office wasn't returned.

Vancouver Sun

© CanWest News Service 2007

Canadian 'anger' at China trial

Canadian 'anger' at China trial

Amnesty International says Uighurs are being wrongly persecuted

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to be "displeased" that Canadian diplomats did not attend the trial in China of a Canadian Uighur.

Huseyincan Celil, an ethnic Uighur and a rights activist, is on trial on terrorism charges in Urumqi in Xinjiang, home to a Muslim majority.

His wife told the BBC that relatives in the courtroom say he told the court he had been tortured by secret police.

Mr Celil also holds Chinese nationality and is being tried as a Chinese.

An unnamed official told the Reuters news agency that Canadian Foreign Minister Peter McKay had also said he was unhappy that Canadian diplomats failed to witness court proceedings.

But Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Helena Guergis said Canada was continuing to make representations to the Chinese authorities.

"Our requests for information and trial dates have gone unanswered, but embassy officials are in daily contact and they are en route to the province where Mr Celil is being held to deal directly with court officials and secure access to court proceedings," she said.

Mr Celil was an imam who left China in the 1990s. He arrived in Canada in 2001 as a refugee and was given Canadian citizenship. This is not recognized by China.

CHINA'S UIGHURS Ethnically Turkic Muslims, mainly in Xinjiang Made bid for independent state in 1940s Sporadic violence in Xinjiang since 1991 Uighurs worried about Chinese immigration and erosion of traditional culture

He travelled to Uzbekistan last year, where he was arrested and then extradited to China on terrorism charges in March 2006.

His wife Kamila Telendibaeva held a news conference in December about her husband's plight.

"It's very sad. I need to get some information about my husband," she told reporters.

Amnesty International says Mr Celil is one of thousands of Uighurs being wrongly prosecuted by China.

Xinjiang, home to the Uighurs and other minorities, has long desired autonomy from Beijing, which regards the province as a home to terrorists.