Among recent commentaries on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s relative success or failure in China, some important points have been overlooked, says noted Chinese democracy activist and exiled writer Sheng Xue.
Any discussion about Canada finally achieving approved destination status from Beijing, which lets Chinese tourists come to Canada more easily, should take note that only the Chinese communist regime uses the freedom of its own citizens as bargaining chips in international negotiations, she said.
“The agreement itself is ridiculous because only in a communist totalitarian country do people need approval of where to travel and where not to. This phenomenon does not exist in any democratic country. The thing itself limits people’s freedom,” said Sheng, who won the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for Investigative Journalism in 2000.
“Approved Destination Status (ADS) is based on the condition that if you are good to my regime, I give you this approval, then my people can travel to your country, spending money and promoting your economy, bringing prosperity to you.”
But Sheng said most of the benefit of getting ADS has already passed given that Canada is to become the 135th country to gain the status.
Another point that has been too often overlooked is that Mr. Harper’s proclamations about human rights in China are done for the benefit of the Chinese people, said Sheng.
“Speaking for Chinese human rights, Harper is indeed standing on the side of the Chinese people. Why is that? Nobody can deny that China is not a democratic but an autocratic country. One of the basic features of an autocratic regime is that it does not protect its own people’s interest, and it won’t do anything for the purpose of protecting its own people’s interest. The current situation is, Chinese people are dependent on external forces for human rights.”
Sheng added that many human rights violations are addressed through international pressure.
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