How concerned is China about its international image on the eve of the summer games?

Gabriela Perdomo - China is getting closer to fulfilling the prophecy of becoming the world's next economic power each day that goes by. There is no doubt the country's rapid growth—calculated at 10.7 per cent last year—is already reshaping the globe's economy. Now that China's power is becoming so visible, so is an uncomfortable truth: china's grim record on human rights, which might become the focus of political and diplomatic rifts in the near future.

An ongoing diplomatic discord between China and Canada illustrates how communist leaders in China are handling the international community's complaints about their obscure human rights policies. On Apr. 19, Chinese-born Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil was prosecuted in China and sentenced to life in prison for "terrorist activities and plotting to split the country." Celil, who claims he worked as a human rights activist in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where separatist organizations operate, had fled his country in the mid 1990s and was welcomed by Canada as a refugee, eventually becoming a citizen in 2005. He was arrested in Uzbekistan in March 2005 when visiting relatives.

The Canadian government tried to have consular access to Celil and asked to participate on the speedy trial, claiming it had legal rights to do so because Celil is Canadian. However, though Chinese law requires that people who seek another passport renounce to their Chinese nationality, Chinese authorities have treated Celil's case like a national matter and have refused to accept Celil's Canadian citizenship, effectively keeping Canadian officials out of the case.

The whole situation has played prominently in Canadian media. The Conservative government of Stephen Harper sent a diplomatic delegation to Beijing right after the sentence was read, led by foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay. Far from getting what he wanted, MacKay had to endure instead a reprimand by his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, who said Canada is damaging Sino-Canadian relations.

Many politicians and Canadians in general have taken Celil's case as an opportunity to analyze the future of Chinese-Canadian relations. A recent Angus Reid Strategies poll found that almost half of Canadians want the government to do more to help Celil through diplomatic channels, while 27 per cent would support a public condemnation of China's way of handling the case. In addition, 76 per cent of respondents want Ottawa's long-term policy towards China to be based on human rights and minority rights, as opposed to the sound bilateral trading relationship.

Last week, a Canadian newspaper revealed that an all-party group of members of parliament has prepared a draft proposal for the government in which they advise the prime minister to use the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to put pressure on the country's human rights record. "While witnesses were not advocating a boycott of the Olympic Games, the consensus was that the Beijing Olympics represent an opportunity for Canada and the international community to press China on human-rights issues," says the report. The document, which is only in a draft stage now, also quotes Alex Neve, Amnesty International's secretary-general, who has repeatedly said the games present the world diplomats with a great opportunity to pressure China into reforming its human rights policies now that the country is concerned about its international image.

Judging by the way China has handled Celil's case with Canada, Neve's assertion seems more like wishful thinking. It is apparent that the leaders of the Communist Party are very confident on the blinding glitter of their monetary success, and that important trade partners such as Canada will be treated only as such.

Celil's case is only one of many that are starting to cast a shadow on China's growing clout in world affairs. It echoes once again questions on whether world leaders should worry about China's bland commitment to global diplomacy and individual rights. As argued in the case of Sudan's ongoing genocide, China refuses to mix trade relationships with politics, and its leaders reject any attempt by the United Nations to disrespect Sudan's sovereignty. The argument is also opportunely valid—for them—for any attempts by other nations to criticize China's own internal affairs.

How far will China be able to maintain this policy is uncertain. The question on how much, if at all, should the rest of the world worry about it remains open. The Chinese are pragmatists. And their discipline will ensure, for now, that the 2008 games will be a success as expected.

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