Thank you.
To respond to Madame Barbot's question regarding Canadian weight, I think the reality is that China looms very large in our consciousness of the world and of Asia, but when we go to China, Canada, given the size of our economy and the size of our population, doesn't loom as large to them as they do to us. I think that's just the reality of it. Of course, when we visit, they're very nice to us. And we have a long history of friendship and collaboration, and every time you get in a cab and say you're from Canada, they talk about Bai Qiu-en and Norman Bethune and so on. So there is that reservoir of goodwill. But largely speaking, I think we don't loom as large in their view as they do in ours.
The legitimacy question, I think, is critical because the entire “China rising” dimension is hinged on the importance of China resuming the important place that it deserves in the world and having legitimacy for its place in the world, and hence legitimacy of its government domestically. A big part of what we saw, in terms of the earthquake relief, was about building legitimacy domestically. That is an area that Canada can actually have some influence in, because when we participate in a human rights dialogue with China, multilaterally or bilaterally, that allows the Chinese government to say, in effect, that the Canadians are supporting what they're doing, and that gives them legitimacy in the face of the world and in terms of their domestic population.
So I think our capacity to confer legitimacy on the Chinese government is a very important asset that Canada has, because of our reputation in the world as essentially a source of good offices and what not, and I think that's something we should explore further.
I would second very strongly the comment on NGO collaboration. That is a critical element in emerging civil society in China. We could debate from now till doomsday whether civil society exists in China or not, but it certainly is emerging, and these NGOs, still somewhat dominated by party and government elements--but nonetheless increasingly independent, increasingly effective, increasingly assertive--are a critical place for engagement by Canada.
In terms of specific achievements in the area of government accountability--to respond to another part of your question, Madame--I would just point to two processes in the legislative area. One is the process of legislative hearings. If we look at rule-making and legislation over the past three to four years--and the property law that was enacted last year is just one very good example--the increasing reliance on ever more public legislative hearings to get input from still elite groups, but nonetheless a great diversity of elite groups, shows a commitment to, again, building legitimacy for law making through participation.
Another example would be the open government regulations. The new open government decision-making regulation that goes into effect this year is a very important step toward government accountability, but it's very important as well to recognize that it's not motivated by notions of government accountability as we would see those here in Canada. It's motivated generally by an effort to control corruption at the local level. Nonetheless, it is a major achievement in terms of bringing some level of accountability to government decision-making.
I hope that answers your questions.