Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, sir, you are correct on the latter part, but Canada–China trade actually did not decline after Tiananmen Square. It was back to a period that Mr. Khan would find interesting, which is when we had a trade surplus with China.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say it was in the context of virtually every other western country. Also, “sanctions” is not quite the right word in regard to our trade. After Tiananmen, we limited the kinds of political exchanges we had with China for a period of time. We did not put in place financial

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The economic relationship continued at about its same pace. It increased slightly.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  No, sir, we can't point to any specifics, but I would say that we are in a moment in which we don't know yet the full Chinese reaction to what long-term cool politics would mean.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think many Canadian companies that operate in Asia report examples of what you've characterized as industrial espionage. It is not unique to Canadian companies operating in China.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think the metric for measuring the Canada–China economic relationship includes all of the things you mentioned, but is much bigger. Essentially, Canadian competitiveness and the productivity of our manufacturing depends upon deeper integration with global production systems, of

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for the question. Like you, I share the view that the human rights dialogue is not performing to maximum capacity. But I think we need to take a step back. That human rights dialogue is just one square in a much bigger set of initiatives that Canadian governments, univ

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I can't give a reasoned judgment, but having seen that dialogue unfold, having seen what other countries are saying about that dialogue, this is not a dead duck. It's a duck that is hobbling on one foot and needs to be improved. I think several good recommendations have already b

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, sir, it is.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, sir, it has.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, it's even worse than that. According to the statistics we have for January to November 2006, Canadian goods exports to China were about $6 billion. Our imports from China were about $38 billion.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say that it was not just the previous administration, if you mean the last Liberal government. I would suggest that really dating back to Pierre Trudeau, every Canadian government has tried to pursue warm politics. By the way, I'm not saying hot politics. No one feels tha

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say we are bordering on hot economics, and that on balance, that economic relationship, even with that enormous trade difference, is great for the Canadian economy.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say that's the wrong way to measure it. We are looking at how Canadian businesses are learning to compete globally and at a connection into supply chains in which, for the moment, Chinese exports to us are larger, but we realize on balance that China is not a major world

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's impossible to say, and the reason for that is we are now becoming so increasingly integrated in our production systems that a trade deficit with China can be helpful to us in our trade relationship with other parts of the world.