luh_windan
10-22-2004, 03:01 AM
China set to buy Canadian
By GEOFFREY YORK
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Beijing — China's Communist rulers have a blunt message for anyone who frets about the planned Chinese takeover of Canada's biggest mining company: Get ready for more to come.
In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail in Beijing this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing made it plain that the controversial $7-billion takeover of Noranda Inc. is just a small element in a much more ambitious strategy of investment in Canada's resources sector to feed China's voracious appetite for raw materials.
...
The Noranda takeover — which is expected to be finalized by mid-November, becoming the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese corporation — has sparked questions by several MPs who have raised human-rights concerns. Some say the deal should be blocked because of reports that China Minmetals has been linked to the use of forced labour in the Chinese prison gulag.
China's Foreign Minister vigorously rejected the human-rights concerns.
"You can tell your readers that they needn't worry at all about China's development," he said.
"In the international arena, we act in accordance with international law and international practice. We will act in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization, as a member of WTO."
He insisted that human rights are fully protected by the Chinese constitution, and argued that China's human-rights situation is not too different from that of Canada.
"On human rights, I believe, our two peoples have a lot in common," he said.
"Liberty, democracy, freedom and whatever, we share a lot. What is democracy? Democracy is a way in which people enjoy their rights according to law. If the Chinese people and government are working in accordance with our constitution and law, why do people in Canada worry about this? "I don't think there is anything to give a reason for those people to worry about China's human-rights record. Perhaps those people have not read at all the Chinese constitution. Perhaps they have not been to China and also perhaps they don't know history."
...
On the economic front, he noted that the two-way trade between Canada and China in the first eight months of this year was nearly 60 per cent above the level of last year. He wants still closer links.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041021.wchina21/BNStory/International/
By GEOFFREY YORK
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Beijing — China's Communist rulers have a blunt message for anyone who frets about the planned Chinese takeover of Canada's biggest mining company: Get ready for more to come.
In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail in Beijing this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing made it plain that the controversial $7-billion takeover of Noranda Inc. is just a small element in a much more ambitious strategy of investment in Canada's resources sector to feed China's voracious appetite for raw materials.
...
The Noranda takeover — which is expected to be finalized by mid-November, becoming the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese corporation — has sparked questions by several MPs who have raised human-rights concerns. Some say the deal should be blocked because of reports that China Minmetals has been linked to the use of forced labour in the Chinese prison gulag.
China's Foreign Minister vigorously rejected the human-rights concerns.
"You can tell your readers that they needn't worry at all about China's development," he said.
"In the international arena, we act in accordance with international law and international practice. We will act in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization, as a member of WTO."
He insisted that human rights are fully protected by the Chinese constitution, and argued that China's human-rights situation is not too different from that of Canada.
"On human rights, I believe, our two peoples have a lot in common," he said.
"Liberty, democracy, freedom and whatever, we share a lot. What is democracy? Democracy is a way in which people enjoy their rights according to law. If the Chinese people and government are working in accordance with our constitution and law, why do people in Canada worry about this? "I don't think there is anything to give a reason for those people to worry about China's human-rights record. Perhaps those people have not read at all the Chinese constitution. Perhaps they have not been to China and also perhaps they don't know history."
...
On the economic front, he noted that the two-way trade between Canada and China in the first eight months of this year was nearly 60 per cent above the level of last year. He wants still closer links.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041021.wchina21/BNStory/International/