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Canada-China Relations committee I think it reflects the harsh realities of the climate at the top of the world and the relative economic development. Many have commented about the sparse landscape. It's a very high elevation region, where some people who are not well adapted to the low oxygen in the high elevat
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Mr. Chair, I think religion is a particular target for the Communist Party in China. There's a long history of that. What we've started to see over the last several years is, I would say, both a Sinofication of religion and a “partyfication”, if I can say, of religion. There are
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee No, I don't think, in the sense of a political entity.... I'm just trying to understand the question a little more clearly. If it were to ask whether we recognized the Central Tibetan Administration or the government in exile as a separate political entity, then the answer is no.
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Mr. Chair, I'm grateful that this particular question has been raised, because it's an area of preoccupation not only for Canada but also for many of our like-minded partners. But the position, if I can articulate it carefully here, is that we support the right of the Tibetan B
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Again, to answer the question about the standard of living, we often have to refer to or rely on Chinese statistics for economic growth and development. By those measures, it's quite clear that economic standards of living have risen across the board. Our reporting would sugges
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee In terms of a cultural or linguistic expert, we have employees of Tibetan origin within Global Affairs Canada, as we do throughout the country. In terms of understanding the actual situation on the ground, I think all of us, including those who study Tibet on a more or less full
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Yes, absolutely. I'll just give you one example. The Sera monastery in Lhasa has the capacity for 2,000 monks. According to reporting that we've collected, in 2015 there were 600 monks. When Ambassador Barton visited, there were 400. Part of that is because compulsory education,
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee No, you shouldn't read anything further than that. That's fine.
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Mr. Chair, I should probably clarify my position. If I misread or misremembered the motion.... The Canadian policy does not include a specific reference to the middle way. It only refers to our advocacy for dialogue without specifying the content.
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee It's to mutualize, we often would say, a resolution to the grievances that is acceptable by both sides.
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Mr. Chair, that's an excellent point to raise because, as the committee knows, there's a large population of Tibetans living outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region, including in India. The best way that I can put this is that our concern for the humanitarian, cultural and lingui
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Absolutely. This is one of the bases we have on which to advocate. It's one thing, which we always do, to appeal to international norms and universal human rights on these issues, but in fact it's China's own laws that provide a basis for respect of linguistic and cultural rights
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Yes, Mr. Chair, I appreciate the chance to address the question. I think an issue that's rightly pointed out here is that China's government has to come to an understanding that if it wants the international community to accept it at its word, it has to fulfill its word. The 17
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee Yes, indeed, and I think there are views on both sides: one, that this will bring more economic opportunity for Tibetans, but two, that it will hasten the speed of cultural assimilation in Tibet. It would be clearer to us, which it were, if Tibetans themselves had freedom to mov
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil
Canada-China Relations committee No, I wouldn't find that normal.
November 17th, 2020Committee meeting
Shawn Steil