TRUDEAU HITS HUMAN RIGHTS NERVE IN BUSINESS SPEECH IN CHINA
Sep 01, 2016
By Bob Komsic
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Justin Trudeau addressed the elephant in the room when he used a speech to the Canada China Business Council in Shanghai to criticize China’s human rights record.
(Adrian Wyld/ The Canadian Press)
”I know that these are not easy conversations to have, but they are necessary ones. And as important as it is to me that our government seeks greater economic co-operation with China, so too must we promote the values that make us good economic partners and good friends.”
Trudeau says he raised the issue of freedom of expression this week in meetings with President Xi Jinping and encouraged him to do more to protect human rights.
Canada’s top diplomat in China, Guy Saint-Jacques says the prime minister raised individual cases, including Canadian Kevin Garratt, who was indicted on espionage charges.