That's a very good question.
If I could say one thing off the top about the legislative exchange between the Parliament of Canada and the National People's Congress, I do think it's good for us to be engaging parliamentarians in China. However, we have to be very careful that we're not being manipulated by the Chinese side to try to establish a moral equivalence between our democratic parliamentary institutions and the National People's Congress of China, which is not in any way qualitatively anything like the Canadian Parliament. It is not a democratic institution. It is not the supreme organ of political power in China that it purports to be. When we're dealing with them, we should not allow them to say we're all parliamentarians together, because they're not the same as the distinguished members of this House.
Secondly, I think it's better to be respected than loved. In international diplomacy one should not have friends, but one has interests. I believe that by being frank, transparent, and honest, we will do better in the long run with China than we would through a notion of being concerned about offending the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. I don't suggest that we should be in any way offensive or personally condemnatory, but I think it's important to be frank and honest with them. We gain more respect and Canada's interests in the long run are better served.
Of course, on a personal basis, all the Chinese people that I met agree with what I said in the report. They understand these things.
I do think meeting with Mr. He and speaking with him is the way to go, frankly. I don't think it would be good not to meet with him. But when we do meet with him, we should speak our minds. I don't think we ought to be considering that if we say this, the Chinese government will be disturbed. And for their side, let them speak frankly to us about issues such as why their government thinks it's okay to shoot down Tibetans crossing the border, and we'll deal on an equal basis based on where we're really coming from. That's the healthiest way for us to relate to China.