BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping was told of Ottawa’s concerns about a Canadian couple held as suspected spies in northern China, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday during a meeting in the opulent Great Hall of the People.
“That particular case is of significant concern to us and to Canadians and that is why I raised it,” Harper said during a brief news conference.
Twenty-fours earlier, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Harper China would not release Kevin and Julia Garratt while the country’s judiciary investigated the devout Christian couple who are alleged to have stolen military secrets while operating a coffee shop near the North Korean border.
“I would note that we have been granted regular consular access by the government of China and that is at least one positive in this,” Harper added, in French.
The Garratts’ two sons, who are now in China to try to gain their parents’ release, expressed gratitude for the assistance the family had received from Ottawa, CBC Radio reported Sunday.
“I am not going to enumerate them all,” the prime minister told journalists. “But I will just say you can rest assured that every single item that is important in the area of consular issues, human rights, governance, the rights of minorities — I have raised every single one of those.”
China has complained in the past about investment rules that prevented them from putting as much money as they wanted to into developing Alberta’s oilsands. But senior Chinese officials did not raise the issue this weekend, the prime minister said.
“It would be difficult for them to do so given that Canada’s investment climate is so much freer than the investment climate here,” Harper said. “In fact, according to our statistics the Chinese have about five times the level of investment in our country as we do in China. So, if anything, it’s on the other side that that issue really has to be addressed.”
Why China let the investment issue drop is unknown. It could be because Beijing’s interest in the oilsands may have waned because of a steep drop in global oil prices and a boom in energy production by the U.S., Beijing’s interest in the oilsands may be considerably less than it was only two or three years ago.
The main goal of Harper’s third trip to China had been to drum up more business for Canada. Describing himself as pleased with what had been accomplished, the prime minister said there had been advances in promoting Canada’s aviation industry and in selling agricultural products to China.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper (R) holds meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) during an APAC Bilateral Meeting at the Great Hall of the People on November 9, 2014 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Petar Kujundzic – Pool/Getty Images)
The prime minister’s remarks at Sunday’s news conference made clear that he considered the crowning achievement of this visit the bilateral currency swap agreement concluded Saturday, whereby Canada would establish a hub for exchanging China’s yuan and Canadian dollars rather than having every transaction conducted through U.S. dollars. Future currency exchanges are to be handled by a Canadian bank chosen by China, and the Bank of China would guarantee the stability of such exchanges by providing a 50 billion yuan (nearly $9 billion) credit.
The move “will obviously facilitate trade between our two countries in the future,” Harper said. “It is an important gain for the Canadian financial sector.”
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has concluded that this new arrangement will save billions of dollars in what is already a $70-billion-a-year trading partnership.
In a long list of “outcomes” that was sent Sunday to journalists accompanying the prime minister during his five days in China, Canada made gains in selling cherries and blueberries to China and would continue to discuss the import by China of Canadian beef.
Chinese passengers on China Southern Airlines would no longer be required to have visas to transit Canada and both countries agreed “to give positive consideration” to establishing more places in China where people could apply for Canadian visas.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) during an APAC Bilateral Meeting at the Great Hall of the People on November 9, 2014 in Beijing, China.
Other tweaks to the existing air agreement between the countries would allow for more passenger and freight flights.
Deals that were not included in the list of outcomes included the $1.12-billion U.S. sale by Bombardier of CRJ 900 jets to China’s largest privately owned airline, and a new joint venture between Air Canada and Air China that the Canadian carrier’s president, Calin Rovinescu, said could mean millions of dollars in extra revenue and would likely lead to more direct flights to China from cities such as Calgary and Montreal.
After attending a few meetings Monday during the opening day the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum near Beijing, Harper was to fly to Canada for Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa.
The prime minister will then almost immediately get on an RCAF Polaris to fly to New Zealand and then to Brisbane, Australia, where the G20 Summit takes place next weekend.
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