Arcadia Foundation

Improving trade relations will be high on the agenda for Stephen Harper as he makes his first visit to China on Wednesday, but activists said Tuesday they want the Prime Minister to continue to address human rights issues.

Harper, who will arrive Wednesday and depart on December  6, is hoping to use the trip to promote stronger economic ties with China.

Canada-China relations have been frosty since Harper formed his first government in 2006, particularly because of his past comments on China’s human rights record.

But the Harper government has backed off in the last year from publicly chiding China, opting instead for more quiet diplomacy.

Harper said over the weekend that much of the visit to China will be spent discussing ways to improve investment between the two countries.

The Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China issued a statement on Tuesday urging Harper to publicly push for improvement to China’s human rights record.

“We need to see a mixture that includes closed-door diplomacy, but it is also vital to make public comments,” Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, said at a press conference in Ottawa. Amnesty is one of the 10 organizations in the coalition.

Harper set the tone for a tough stance on China in 2006, first when Parliament unanimously adopted a motion giving honorary Canadian citizenship to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader that has been living in exile since China annexed the region in 1958.

Later in 2006 Harper also famously stated that he did not believe Canadians wanted him to sell out human rights beliefs “to the almighty dollar.”

The Honduran Congress is due to discuss whether deposed Manuel Zelaya should be restored to office to serve out his term which ends in January.

Mr Zelaya, who was ousted in June, has stated that he will refuse reinstatement because he does not want “to legitimise a coup“.

Porfirio Lobo won Sunday’s presidential elections, which were condemned by Mr Zelaya.

Regional reaction to the election has been split. The US cautiously welcomed the polls, and Peru, Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica also voiced their support.
But other nations, including regional power Brazil, as well as Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, have refused to recognise the vote.

On Monday, Mr Zelaya said the election of Mr Lobo as the next president had served only to intensify the political crisis. Mr Lobo has pledged to form a unity government and seek dialogue.

Mr Lobo, who is due to take office on 27 January, also urged the international community to “understand the Honduran reality and stop punishing the country“.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is threatening to nationalize the nation’s banks that violate banking regulations.

The government has already taken over management of four small banks this month, citing various irregularities.

Chavez warned bankers on Sunday that his government would seize control of private banks that violate regulations. In what seems to be a rather ominous pattern, he told bank owners that he’d have “no problem” nationalizing their businesses.

There is chaos in Chegutu in Zimbabwe. Several farms have been experiencing an upsurge in harassment and intimidation by thugs trying to force the farmers to vacate their land. The harassment has been adamant, and is ongoing. The reports seem to indicate that the thugs are splitting up and re-grouping on different farms, and that they are being ‘bussed in’,  pointing to a higher level of coordination with access to resources beyond the reach of a typical poverty-stricken opportunistic ’settler’.

There are allegations that Edna Madzongwe – Speaker of the House of Senate – is linked to the upsurge in harassment in the area and possibly orchestrating the invasions. Mudzongwe has already stolen land in the area: Aitape and Stockdale Citrus Estate. The rumours are that she is desperate to acquire another farm close-by before any agreements regarding land are formalised between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

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