Prime Minister Stephen Harper conversed with Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao on Thursday.

Premier Wen Jiaobao of China delivered a rebuke to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Thursday. According to Premier Wen, one of the country’s most popular and senior politicians, Harper’s visit to China has been tardy, and diplomatic meetings between the leaders of the two countries have been too infrequent. The proverbial slap on the wrist may have been an innocuous chiding. But it speaks to the tenuous nature of Canada’s diplomatic relationship with the People’s Republic.

Although Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao conversed a fortnight ago at the APEC conference, President Hu has not visited Canada in nearly five years. Harper, who has declined opportunities to venture to China in the past, is making his first ever visit.
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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has never courted China, despite its economic powerhouse status, and suggestions that he is now doing so in order to secure the Chinese-Canadian vote are ludicrous. It is perfectly evident that people do not emigrate from China to Canada on account of the weather. As such, it is naive to believe that Chinese-Canadians, en masse, wish for positive relations between their country of origin and their adopted homeland. This is not to mention the host of Asian Canadians, Tibetans, for instance, who may observe Canada’s diplomatic relations with China with suspicion.

With entirely opposing political cultures, China and Canada have no reason to maintain good relations besides for economics, and in this time of fiscal crisis, our Prime Minister has bit the bullet. In 2006, with regards to his stand on China, Harper famously noted that he would not “sell out” human rights in favour of economic gain. This is a course he has not diverged from, until now. For the first time since his election, Harper has paid an official visit to China.
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