Thursday, May 01

Statutory holiday.

Friday, May 02

Media SARS ChinaDom

Lunch with John Pomfret, Washington Post.

Not surprisingly, we discussed SARS. Some comments from our discussion:

  • CCP’s voices in public commentary range from lying about what is happening, dissembling what is happening or ignoring what is happening. This is systemic and not SARS-specific. The Propaganda Department, which shapes the messaging is headed by Liu Yunshan. (He must have been good at his job because ultimately, he would lead the Department until 2012. There, he oversaw the systematic control over the internet, all part of the CCP’s choking of civil society.)
  • the CCP’s problems in dealing with these kinds of crises are due to a combination of ‘stove-piping’, that is to say inadequate horizontal institutional and geographic connectivity among public services that deal in the same social areas such as health, and this even within the same province; inadequate budgets to provide the public with necessary medical goods and services; and good, old-fashioned bureaucratic procrastination – not unknown in other parts. Nor is it clear if Beijing is providing sufficient guidance.
  • given the relations between the pandemic and social stability, some wondered if the PLA might need to become involved in suppressing public discontent.
  • at the same time, the Chinese economy was overheating, as reflected in the stock and commodity markets: price increases in the light manufacturing sector, which depended on increasingly competitive domestic and international markets, were facing tough times.

Admin

Exchange with RCMP over staffing and appraisal issues.

Sunday, May 04

ChinaDom ChinaEc

There was some question that I would be invited to address the Senate’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the Chinese economy and impact of SARS. I thus drafted the following talking points:

  • I looked closely at your Committee’s mandate, I will address what is the situation re the economic/trade relationship; what are the opportunities, and what do we have to do to keep and improve Cda’s place in the region;
  • Start with the big picture: 9.4% average growth rate for 1978-2000, 3 times the world at large, at 3.3%; largest producer in the world of TVs, air conditioners, cameras, telephones; 2nd in total FX holdings, at $250B in late 2002; 6th GDP; 2nd on PPP basis; 6th international trader; if China maintains growth rate of 6% over the next decade, will surpass the collective of Britain, France and Germany.
  • That’s the good economic news. The bad news is equally impressive: major Chinese studies have identified 41 serious domestic problems, including unemployment, both urban and rural; large income disparities between Western China and the East, e.g. Guizhou vs. Beijing; social instability: 26 provinces reported large demonstrations over the last year, expressing in one form or another, discontent, and over a variety of issues, presumably local; SOEs produce a high proportion of consumer products but, account for a low percentage of the labor force; farming community incomes and productivity are low; there is weak financial sector intermediation, meaning that it is lagging in responding to social change. Add to this the longer-term impact of SARS; although the expectation is that while the losses to services sectors such as tourism, transportation, restaurants and so forth – are unrecoverable, the effective loss in  goods manufacturing will be limited.
  • What can this mean for Canada?
  • Total Canadian exports to China in 2002 were valued at Cdn$4.2B; about 20% potash and chemicals, 18% transportation equipment, consisting of automobile engine kits for the GM plant in Shanghai, as well as pulp and paper (mostly pulp); 11% are agricultural and fish products.
  • Our historic role as a provider of grains has eroded, as China has become a net food producer, and some of our agricultural exports – such as canola seed and barley – are subject to swings in production and global markets.
  • Our trade is also subject to variations arising from the impact on exports of large, one time contracts, such as nuclear industry equipment for CANDU reactors, now almost completed, aircraft and transportation equipment sales, and market swings such as saturation of certain parts of the telecoms market in China.
  • We are also affected by the reality that some Canadian companies now produce in China: Nortel, most notably, even small SMEs such as FRACO and Ouellet will be manufacturing in China, thus reducing their share of total Canadian exports to China.
  • Services trade is mostly tourism and transportation; but Canadian insurance companies Manulife and Sunlife are thriving, and we have some presence in the banking sector, primarily BMO and Scotia.
  • From a ‘structure of trade’ point of view, the most significant and basic development is the rapid rise in Chinese exports to Canada, for a total of Cdn$16B last year; this is mostly in light manufactureds, but the growth rate is very rapid; it may lead to our total bilateral trade surpassing our total trade with Japan this year or next, but this will be based on rising Canadian imports of Chinese goods.
  • This could conceivably lead to fears of structural and long term trade imbalances, even if the numbers are small; after all, the Cdn$12B imbalance last year was equivalent to less that a week’s trade with the USA; on verra.
  • The fact is that China is a vast, largely open market, one that imported US$244B in merchandise trade last year; this makes it among the top three importers in the world;
  • Cdn companies supplied 1.4% of this market last year, a decrease from the year before; so Canada’s most basic challenge is at least maintaining our market share; there are long-term ways of achieving that, and even better, increasing our share.
  • Let me just say a word about SARS and our bilateral trade:
  • The most significant if short-term impact at present is on Air Canada and the Canadian firms involved in providing food stuffs for the hotel and restaurant trade; we may see a decline in the number of Chinese students going to Canada.
  • The largest short-term beneficiaries may be Canadian insurance companies, who report booming interest in their products.
  • There may also be benefits to Canadian firms who brave the advisements of international health organizations and come to China to make deals. EDC reports no let-up in their activities.
  • Conversely, companies who don’t come to China, or Chinese companies that postpone or cancel visits to Canada may be losing business, or at least delaying it by many months.
  • For the longer term, and since for the moment we do not have reasons to anticipate that SARS will have disastrous economic consequences, as it will be largely contained and life will return to recognized normality, we do not expect significant, long-term impact on our trading relationship.

Monday, May 05

MAM

  • re-SARS, CIDA was considering what type of short-term assistance it could provide to the Chinese or, say, the WHO or the UN’s other relevant institutions. A meeting on this and other questions was scheduled for later in the week.
  • not surprisingly, the DPRK was tightening its already ‘air-lock’ quality constraints against international travel; I am sure that the Canadian Space Agency could learn a lot about isolation from the North Koreans;
  • nevertheless, the Trade Section remained in scheduling mode. Ditto EDC, Environment, other Government departments. Some Sections still anticipated a limited number of planned visits;
  • on the other hand, some Beijing-based Canadian businesses, including law firms, were feeling SARS impact on their activities; there were ‘lots of early departures for summer holidays’;
  • re SARS victims: indications were that half of those infected were medical workers, with virtually all cases through direct contact.
  • WHO would provide a briefing to the Guangzhou Consulate later in the day;
  • the Asia Development Bank was preparing a paper on the economic impact of SARS on China.

Lunch hosted by Kumru and me with German Ambassador Joachim Boudré-Gröeger and Madame. Topic? SARS, SARS, SARS. Ditto the next day with Italian Ambassador Gabriele Menegatti and Spouse.

Attentive readers will note the very limited number of daily meetings and Canadian and Chinese visitors during this period. 

Note to Deputy Director General Li Zhengdong, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, seeking China’s support for naming a Canadian from the FAO as Vice-Chair of the Programs Committee of the Organization.

Wednesday, May 07

SARS strategy update session with senior program managers.

ChinaDom

Luncheon with Professor Chu Shulong, Director of the Strategy Research Institute at Tsinghua University.

 A very well-known academic figure in China and the US – less so in Canada – with his foot in the door of Chinese domestic politics and contemporary international politics. The absence of notes reflects not on the paucity of the Professors knowledge and insights, but rather on my being fully absorbed by his comments. No other excuse. Apologies.

SARS

Letter to Father Albert Hass expressing regret that SARS risk-management has made it difficult for the weekly Catholic mass to be celebrated in the Alvin Hamilton Room on Sundays, and requesting that Father Hass hold the mass at another location, pending a reduction in the health risks caused by the epidemic.

Une lettre similaire est adressée à Madame Marie-Noelle Hottelart et demande également de trouver un site alternatif pour la célébration de la messe, quitte à la résolution de la crise SARS.

Separately, a note went to all Embassy Staff – CBS and LES – inviting them to a SARS briefing on Thursday. The session would include Dr. Lucy Chen, a Canadian and Dr. Susan Xu from the Beijing International SOS organization, for an update on the SARS situation. A Chinese language session would follow.

Thursday, May 08

SARS meeting, joined by two local MDs providing their advice on managing the crisis. It was a fulsome and no-holds-barred briefing session.

I followed-up the information session with a letter to Beijing International SOS thanking the organization for providing the services of Drs. Chen and Xu, saying that ‘their presentations were clear, informative, and focused on practical advice to members of the foreign community resident in Beijing. I added that their remarks helped the Embassy staff to take thoughtful decisions about their personal situations

Lunch with Professor Dan Tretiak, The Second Line Limited, and Lois Tretiak, Chief Representative, Beijing Economic Group, both long-time China Hands and experts on doing business in China.

BT&I

Meeting with Madame Wang Gengqing, Chairperson, China Certification and Accreditation Administration (AQSIQ) to discuss implementation of protocols allowing Canadian agricultural products to enter China.

I would meet AQSIQ officials to discuss access issues almost as frequently as I met counterparts at the MFA. And for good reasons: virtually all issues were highly technical and solving certification and accreditation problems between Canada and China had to engage the experts of both AQSIQ and the Canadian Standards Association. The Embassy’s roles included keeping an eye on certification issues and helping sustain the connections between the two authorities.

Compulsory product certification procedures were and continue to be accepted as necessary for health protection and are recognized by the WTO, the rules to which China now adhered, thus implementing a new CCC certification system. However, all procedures also impose costs associated with factory inspections and can be used to raise market prices or limit competition. China had established a new and compulsory certification mark whose effective costs Canadian exporters, especially small and medium companies, was considered excessive. Also questioned was whether China’s Custom Inspectors would know which products required the CCC mark and which would not.

Following our meeting, I wrote to Vice President for Certification Randall Luecke of The Canadian Standards Association, reporting in some detail on my meeting with Madame Wang. Significantly, she had given her consent to the process of updating the existing Agreement between the USA and its counterpart on these issues, the State Administration of Import and Export Commodity Inspection of the PRC.

Mr. Luecke replied a few days later thanking the Embassy for its intervention with Madame Wang whom he had met at past meetings of the CNCA and CSA. He committed to sending a revised proposal to the CNCA by mid-June.

It might go without saying but I will say it nevertheless that for an Embassy to navigate these issues at the government-to-government level requires a very sophisticated group of Trade Commissioners – CBS and LES – in the Embassy Trade Division. They understand both the issues – most of them highly technical – as well as the politics of collaboration between Canadian and Chinese government and industry counterparts. And this expertise in our Embassy, as noted above, was recognized when the Gold Harvest Award Selection Committee of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada named Trade Officer Wang Pei as recipient of the Gold Harvest Award for her work on the agricultural files. She was exemplary of the dynamic, imaginative and dedicated Staff within the Embassy’s Commercial and Investment Relations Section, to Canada’s immense benefit.

Friday, May 09

Following the SARS information session and with the agreement of Ottawa, I sent the message below to all Canada-based Staff:

We continue to monitor the SARS situation in Beijing and the rest of China. Although the Chinese Government has brought more transparency to the crisis, the situation has not improved markedly. All of our Headquarters Departments and Agencies are following the situation closely. Yesterday’s briefing by SOS doctors provided some reassurance, but I must also say that no course of action for the future is being excluded.

In recognition of the added hardship imposed upon staff and families in Beijing, the Foreign Service Directive No.58 hardship level has been increased to a Provisional Level V effective March 17, 2003 to June 30, 2003. This will be revisited periodically to determine its continued applicability. This means in practice that our allowance packages will be improved modestly. We will provide details separately.

The combination of factors such as uncertainty with regard to the course of the illness in Beijing and greater China, the unlikelihood that the Health Canada and WHO advisements against travel to China will be lifted in any short time frame, the drastic decline in visitors and concomitant reduction in workloads suggest to me that the effects and consequences of SARS will be felt well into the summer. Ever the optimist, I hope that by the end of summer, this period will only a bad memory and a subject for future memoirs. Under the circumstances, we are looking at ways of temporarily reducing the Staff complement, in part to reduce risk, in part to take advantage in the lull in our activities. Both considerations are important.

To date, individual risk assessments have resulted in the temporary departure of a small number of our Staff, under the provisions of FSD 41. This option is still available to CBS Staff and their dependents, whether accompanied or not. It provides flexibility for departure and return in accordance with your own risk assessments. As I have said at previous meetings, I will interpret FSD41 requests very liberally. Please consider whether the option for departure under the terms of this Directive are attractive to you.

I added some additional remarks, encouraging the acceleration of individual and family leave plans, and ending assignments that were scheduled for the summer earlier than planned. I also flagged that evacuation of dependents, and some program Officers, could be an option, should I consider that the risks of remaining in Beijing were becoming unmanageable. ‘I still don’t think that we are there, nor is it a decision I will take lightly. But the situation could change very rapidly indeed.’ I also promised regular information and Q&A sessions on an ongoing basis.

There was a lot more on my mind than the epidemic’s human toll and its political and geopolitical impact on the Government of China. Among other things, I believed that the Government of China had to do a lot of catch-up, diplomatically. Globalization cuts both ways: China’s actions and inactions made Canadians potential victims of Chinese mismanagement. I believed that China’s leaders would have at the back of their collective mind an awareness that the economic consequences of SARS on China had yet to be played out. I could imagine a foreign consumer boycott of Chinese products: toys, furniture, clothing, the light-manufactured goods, the export of which was central to the Chinese economy. There was a risk that Chinese people themselves could face forms of discrimination. I was confident that the GoC imagined this as well as I did.  

I did not expect much forthrightness with respect to political developments in China. There was a sense that the political situation was fluid, not in terms of ‘reformers’ vs. ‘conservatives’ but rather with regard to the ‘opening’ part of China’s internal debates. Also, at the time, Chinese media – always under the authority of the CCP – was somewhat more forthcoming with information and at times, even obliquely critical of government measures – but never the Party itself.

CCRels  BT&I

In the middle of all of this and thinking about the future, I felt that in many ways, Canada was living on its built-up capital. There were a lot of good things in our bilateral relationship which had led to a huge reservoir of good will.

However, I also felt that forward momentum was lacking, or at most was minimal: we weren’t selling a lot of airplanes; we didn’t have any new CANDU’s online; we did not sell as much wheat as in the recent past; our services trade could not pick up the slack, especially with Approved Destination Status nowhere on the horizon. Imports from China were surging while our exports barely kept pace with China’s economic growth. The result, I felt, was that our strategic commercial importance – never great in terms of overall size but significant in the sectors where we played – had diminished, while that of other economies, especially the largest, was continuing to expand. What we needed in order to build momentum was for the Chinese to make positive decisions on big projects, where we are competitive and meet their needs: ADS, planes, trains, nuclear cooperation, more insurance licenses. We needed Chinese engagement in ‘recharging’ the commercial relations as soon as SARS blew over.

Politically, I felt that we were in a transition phase in both countries: SARS had kept us from getting in on the ground floor with the new State Council. The forthcoming visit of Foreign Minister Graham would help a great deal but more Canadian leaders’ visits in the fall were essential to build and maintain political momentum.

Media

Interview with journalist Shou of Renmin Ribau, the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the CCP. About SARS, of course.

Rencontre des Ambassadeurs francophone, organisée de temps à autre par l’Ambassadeur Suisse, Dominique Dreyer.

Ces rencontres rassemblaient, en principe, tous les francophones, et servaient à échanger les perspectives sur l’actualité chinoise. J’ai participé à des rencontres semblables à Tokyo et Delhi.

Education

Letter to the Deputy Director General Madame Zhang Xiuqin, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Ministry of Education, seeking her Ministry’s support for Carleton University’s application with the National Education Examinations Authorities to receive accreditation for Carleton’s Canadian Academic English Language Assessment, so that it can be marketed throughout China.

Monday, May 12

Lunch à trois hosted by French Ambassador Jean-Pierre Lafon, for Kumru and me.

Hosted dinner for a representative crowd of Canadian business representatives based in Beijing, and a few fellow-Ambassadors. Ditto the next evening, the Ambassadors being supplemented by representatives of UN and other international organizations, as well as academics.

In all honesty, this is the only period in my career when these types of social events crowded my calendar, for reasons that need no further explanation. That said, it is important to note that their most important contribution to the role of an Ambassador is to learn what others are thinking about the issues of the day, and applying that knowledge to one’s work. Which of course I did. 

Tuesday, May 13

Meeting with senior staff to discuss SARS next steps.

Education

Hosted lunch with Professor Wu Qing, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and member of the National People’s Congress.

I was in awe of Wu Qing, among the most famous women in China, given her parentage, her personal history and as China’s most famous proponent of women’s rights, famously quoted as saying:

“China is still a Third World country. To change China, you’ve got to change the countryside. To do that, you’ve got to change the status of the women there. If you educate a woman, it’s like educating a whole family, even several generations of the family. If you educate a man, you are only educating one person.”

Winner two years earlier of the Magsaysay Award for public service, a long-time NPC member, a leading proponent of the 1995 UN Conference on Women. For fun, she and her husband were the English language translators of the Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit books.

How does one sit there and take notes when conversing with someone of this caliber and fame?

Dinner with Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Peoples Vice Chairman, Li Xiaolin.

Sent a dozen congratulatory email to DFAIT Colleagues recently promoted to EX-3 executive level.

Wednesday, May 13

Education

Phone conversation with Rodney Briggs, President of the Canadian Education Network regarding CEC plans for the future.

The Embassy informs the MFA that Rob Mackenzie, our head of the Commercial Section in Beijing, has been appointed Consul General to Shanghai.

Kumru and I host lunch with Ambassador of Turkey, Rafet Akgünai and Spouse

Senior Staff meeting regarding possible visit of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Bill Graham.

Things were beginning to stir, even if the direction that SARS would take was still unpredictable. Along with all the speculation about the course of the epidemic, the preparation for a return to normality was also important.

Kumru and I attend the British Embassy reception on the occasion of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

Thursday, May 15

Meeting with an Immigration Officer.

Meeting with Nicholas Protti, son of Ray Protti, President of the Canadian Bankers Association.

Lunch with Professor Hou Yiling, Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Meeting with members of the Beijing Olympic Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Media

Letter to Bill Atkinson, CBC, following up on the earlier exchange regarding CCTV VP Luo Ming’s possible visit to Banff, inter alia for discussions with the CBC, informing Bill that the visit and thus discussions regarding collaboration would be postponed.

Arts

Exchange with National Arts Center President and CEO Peter Herrndorf, following the Internationalization of Culture in China Round Table in April, and he expressing support of the initiative.

HRRoL

Letter to Director Ye Xiaowen, State Administration of Religious Affairs, Beijing, protesting the arrest and violent treatment of a number of Catholic priests and seminarians in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces in the past few weeks. I named the priests and sought information on their conditions. I added: ‘As you know, Canada attaches great importance to ensuring respect for freedoms of belief and association. From our discussions prior to your February visit to Canada, I know that you believe that religion has a positive role to play in society and urge you to ensure that the rights of religious practitioners are protected’.

Some Readers may recall that Director Ye and a delegation visited Canada to discuss human rights and religious freedoms: see 0211 above. While one can be confident of the quality and the sincerity of the lessons imparted by their Canadian interlocutors on HR and freedom of religion, not much appeared to have rubbed off or influenced the SARA’s institutional power within the CCP.

Fridasy, May 16

MAM

Message from Ottawa addressed to all Heads of Mission, reminding us of our responsibilities regarding the financial management of the Missions…

…Prompted no doubt by the discovery of financial mismanagement at one of Canada’s Embassies and/or Consulates somewhere on the planet – none of ours in the PRC, I am proud to write. Still, a good reminder to take financial management seriously and on an ongoing basis, and to pass the message through the Mission Agendas Meetings.

Chaired a meeting with the CBS and Spouses, to provide an update on current thinking about the course of SARS in China and Canada and listen to their comments and perspectives.

The file for this day includes a chart of the decisions of the Embassy Housing Committee on allocations of staff housing, an insight on the parameters of life abroad for Foreign Service Officers. 

Kumru and I host lunch with Japanese Ambassador Anami Koreshige and Jinny.

Similarly, hosted dinner for Huang Youkong , Director, China Program and Chief of Mission of the World Bank, along with Madame Jing Wang Huang.

Monday, May 19

MAM

Things were beginning to move: discussed emerging plans for the PM’s visit in the fall; a forthcoming meeting with the National Development and Reform Commission and travel restrictions in Chongqing.

DPRK

Meeting with Ambassador Choi Jin Su, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

I had requested the meeting with Ambassador Choi on classified instructions from Ottawa to obtain whatever information might be available regarding DPRK reprocessing of nuclear fuel in the context of North Korea’s withdrawal from the NPT in January. The report is classified. However, we also discussed briefly two separate bilateral issues. The first from our side dealt with the denial of a visa for Canadian Red Cross’ Dr. Sandra Dallaire who had been working with the DPRK Red Cross on a drug distribution program and needed to pursue the project. I was told that the DPRK would only extend the visa on condition of submitting to North Korea’s draconian quarantine procedures which were themselves judged by the Canadian Red Cross as risking not only SARS but also hepatitis and mononucleosis. The North Koreans repeated their request to open an Embassy in Ottawa, to which my reply was that NK’s withdrawal from the NPT made this difficult. 

Arts&Culture

Lunch with Ghaffar Pourazar, International Center for Beijing Opera.

Largely to maintain connections with one of the most interesting and entertaining non-Chinese Beijing Hands. As mentioned earlier, Ghaffar is an amazing Iranian-British individual who has made a place for himself – one of the very few foreigners – in the closed world of Beijing Opera.

Arts&Culture

As one follow-up to the March 7 Roundtable on the Internationalization of Culture and its Implications for Canada, I distributed to the participants an on-line Guide of Federal Programs and Services for Arts and Cultural Entrepreneurs. I added to this information an Inventory of Available Funding Programs for Arts and Cultural Projects with China.  Regrettably, at that time there existed very few private funding organizations with active programs specifically dedicated to supporting cultural projects with the PRC. Some private corporations and foundations had funded projects in the past, based on relationships with cultural institutions.  

Absent DFAIT or Embassy funding for cultural programs per se, it was my sincere hope that participants at the Round Table would use this information in the pursuit of expanded cultural relations with China.

Tuesday, May 20

BT&I

Meeting with Nick Sonntag of CH2MHill re their business interests in Qingdao.

Media

Luncheon with Hu Shuli, founder and editor of Caijing Magazine, introduced earlier. Someone always worth following, along with her magazine. As usual, Hu Shuli tested the limits of reporting on SARS in China and was openly critical of the national and local government’s responses, calling for greater transparency on public health issues.

Dinner with Anthony Saich, scholar of contemporary China, Harvard Kennedy School.

Wednesday, May 21

Meetings with Staff members.

Thursday, May 22

SARS HR&RoL

Meeting with a senior staff member at the Asia Development Bank.

The comments were very critical of the CCP and Chinese Government’s response to the epidemic. The reluctance to provide clear and accurate information to the public was as dangerous as the virus itself. Lack of credible information leads to rumours and panic. One story going around: people who caught the disease would be shot! Chinese governance not only needs to promote economic development: people need a society that promotes values, a sense of justice, shared rules to live by, a sense of what is acceptable and not acceptable, subject to common sense. Society needs institutions that promote those values, and the CCP isn’t doing it.

BT&I

Letter to Qingdao CCP Committee Party Secretary Du Shicheng, introducing Canadian engineering firm CH2M Hill as a contender for the development of the Fushan Bay Olympic Sailing Venue in Qingdao.

Friday, May 23

SARS

The first meeting that day was with Dr. James Young, Commissioner for Public Health, Province of Ontario, followed by gathering with WHO Staff for a briefing and discussions on the state of the epidemic, so far, in China, and the various approaches being taken in China to control the spread of the disease. It appeared that early warnings of the spread of the virus were missed by the authorities, with super spreaders, for example, only identified retrospectively. China’s equivalent of Centers for Disease Control have been in place for over 30 years and at all levels of government and throughout the country. But contact among these centers is haphazard we were told: Guandong issued SARS warnings and guidelines in early February but did not alert Beijing. By this point – May – there were good sets of data on the spread of the illness. But the instructions to the public on how to reduce transmission were often limited to simply telling the public to stay at home.

That said, the Government’s responses were improving, reflected in the fact that train travel throughout the country had declined by 80%.

Later in the day, I had a meeting with the Beijing Health Bureau, including with specialists in the clinical streams dealing with SARS, in order to understand better their thinking on identification of the illness, and the rules in place on isolation and treatment of persons infected with SARS. This information, and that gathered earlier in the day, were grist for the Embassy’s mill for keeping CBS and LES informed on developments and – not to put too fine a point on it – ensuring the credibility of what I and my colleagues were saying.

…but life does go on: that evening I hosted a ‘Rock and Roll Party’ for all CBS and Spouses to honour the Staff members who would be leaving the Embassy over the course of the spring and summer.

Saturday, May 24

Hosted dinner for US Ambassador Clark Randt and Madame.

Monday, May 26

MAM

The inescapable SARS discussion started with a WHO release which touched on preparations for a post-SARS world and the preliminary steps that could be taken. This was not premature: a draft advisory on lifting of travel restrictions by Hong Kong and Guangzhou was under consideration.

SARS

Hosted luncheon with Dr Young, the Ontario Commissioner for Public Health, including Chinese health officials from the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, the Director of the FAO Beijing Bureau, the Chief Director of the Ditan Hospital in Beijing and counterparts form the Beijing You’an Hospital and the Beijing United Family Hospital.  Among other objectives, this was also preparatory for an afternoon session on SARS with all Embassy Staff, followed by a series of Canadian and Chinese press interviews with Dr. Young. 

That evening, I hosted a dinner for a group of Canada-related educators: Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada, the Sino-Canadian Project office, the CIBT School of Business, the University of Windsor’s Beijing Office and the College of International Business of South Ocean International University.

Tuesday, May 27

Arts

Telephone call with André Lewis, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, regarding future plans to visit China.

MFA

Hosted lunch for MFA Vice-Minister Zhou Wenzhong, responsible for North American Affairs, along with other functions as a senior MFA official. Also included were the Deputy Director General for North American and Oceanic Affairs and colleagues from its Third Division, where Canada was ‘parked’ in the MFA.

The discussion focused on the post-SARS Canada/China relations calendar. The less official part of the discussion no doubt included congratulations to China on the success of Shenzhou 5, the first human spaceflight of the national space program.

ChinaDom

Meeting with ‘independent scholar’ Liu Junning, then at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, from which he was eventually expelled.

Scholar Liu held eclectic views on the China’s political options for reform and democratization. An opponent of the ‘Asian values’ school of thought, he foresaw rather a form of constitutionalism which provided for a greater balance of power between the center – Beijing – and China’s provinces. ‘Federalism as bourgeois liberalization’, my notes tell me. Reform of the Chinese political system was necessary as centralized power under the CCP was not feasible in a country with well over a billion citizens. China’s political centralization does not provide political opportunities for non-Party members, nor provide a means of conveying consent to rule. It does not have room for ‘national justice’ and is vulnerable to corruption. On the other hand, Scholar Liu – a fan of Ayn Rand – did not favour direct democracy. Rather, China needs to find ways to better mobilize and use the talents of its intellectuals, its professionals and even its civil servants. He expressed skepticism about the ability of China’s new President, Hu Jintao, to bring forward a reform package, as this would be strongly resisted by other Party leaders.

On the other hand, he was optimistic about the rise of the internet, providing connectivity as well as increasing the flow of information. It was the one free place where one could give vent to one’s voice. (Of course, the CCP would take care of that!)

ChinaMins&VMs BOCOG

Meeting with newly appointed Minister of State Security Zhou Yongkang.

This was my first meeting with Minister Zhou, one of the CCP most senior officials, as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. And while Canada’s engagement with his Ministry dealt primarily with police and illegal migration matters, today’s discussion was about preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and to emphasize Canada’s commitment to cooperating with the Organizing Committee to ensure the Games’ success. Canadian interests were not limited to the athletic outcomes, but also participation in the commercial, cultural and educational fields, on the way to 2008.

I also took advantage of the meeting to remind the Minister of Canada’s bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the hope and expectation that China would support our candidacy.

All that apart, China Hands and Students will be aware that, a decade later, in 2013, Minister Zhou would be accused and convicted – one always follows the other – of abuse of power, bribery and corruption (129mm yuan in bribes, it was reported) as well as the intentional disclosure of state secrets. In 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison. Sic transit…and all that.

SARS

I issued another update, informing Staff that WHO had described the decrease in case numbers in Beijing as encouraging, but cautioned against concluding that the epidemic would soon disappear. It warned that misdiagnosis of cases could have contributed to the lower numbers of probable cases in recent days. WHO officials also feared that patients with milder symptoms of SARS were being excluded as probable cases. Accordingly, we would continue with the taxi program for those who would otherwise use public transportation. I suggested that since workloads in most sections of the Embassy were lower than normal for this time of the year, it was a good opportunity to use up their remaining leave days. In retrospect, that may not have been such good advice, especially if it was interpreted as encouragement to return to regular travel and holiday destinations, given the uncertainties. In the event, and as far as I can recall, none of our Canadian or LES colleagues caught the virus.

Échange avec le Docteur Jean Couture, Département de Chirurgie, Université Laval, Québec au sujet du SRAS.

Hosted dinner that evening for Willy Wang, the Chief Representative of Canadian Pacific Railways in China.

Wednesday, May 28

BOCOG ChinaMins&VMs

Meeting with Vice Minister Yu Zaiqing, General Administration for Sports.

No notes but this would be an echo of the previous day’s meeting with Zhou Yongkang. Yu was a life-time sports administrator.

BT&I Agric

Hosted lunch for Shi Haiguang, General Manager, Canadian Wheat Board, Beijing Office.

Haiguang provided an update on the Chinese market for Canadian wheat:

  • product quality and price are at the high end of the market;
  • Cdn seed wheat flowing to the China Seed Corporation;
  • fertilizer being sourced in Canada by SinoChem;
  • quality is increasingly important as it addresses concerns about food safety, as well as flows into the higher product quality markets; most market trends are towards upgrades;
  • total Chinese imports at the top end of the market range around 4mm tons, with higher or lower tonnage varying year-by-year; about a third of the total is sourced in Canada; marketing of the end products targets the young and the affluent.
  • Cdn barley heads to the brewing market, which could grow from a quarter of a million to 600,000 tons per year;

Separate telephone discussions with Manulife’s Victor Apps and Zhao Xiaoyu, DG, International Department, Ministry of Finance.

Congens

I sent a message to the ConGens, marking the 5th anniversary of the official opening of our Consulate in Chongqing, adding the following:

Canada’s decision to open a Consulate in China’s less developed West earlier than most other countries was a brave move and one that I am very optimistic will pay increasing dividends as the development of Western China gathers speed. Under the leadership of the two first Consuls, Mary Boyd and Craig Wilson, and through the great dedication of its Staff, the Consulate has accomplished a great deal in a short time. Efforts to support Canadian companies and to promote Canada’s image within Chongqing’s Consular territory have made an important contribution to Canada’s place in China. The impending arrival of Philippe Rheault as the new Consul will provide the opportunity to seek new ways to accomplish these goals and marks the beginning of the next period in the Consulate’s development.

SARS  CCRels

It should be said that, later if not sooner, China did seek international assistance to combat SARS. In addition to expected advice and support from international institutions, notably the WHO, it also requested assistance from bilateral partners, including Canada. The Director-General of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce noted publicly on two occasions Canadian assistance to combat SARS in China.
Canada took several steps to respond to China’s requests for help. For example, the Embassy’s Development Section put to use its small projects facility, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, to provide a total to RMB 1,500,000 [C$250k] in immediate cash grants to six organizations in China, to be used for SARS prevention and control, primarily in rural areas. In doing so, we paid careful attention to the message from China’s senior leaders that the key battle in China’s war against STARS would be the battle to prevent SARS from spreading to rural areas.
As noted already, the Canadian Government facilitated the May 22-27 visit to China of a team of senior officials from the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto, including the Ontario’s Commissioner for Public Safety and a core team responsible for managing the March-April outbreak of SARS in Toronto. The purpose of their visit was to share experience with their professional colleagues in Beijing. All of this was formally conveyed to DG Yi Xiaozhun of International Trade and Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.

In addition, Jeff Nankivell and his CIDA colleagues worked directly with the Ministry of Health to prepare a package of financial assistance for SARS prevention in key affected provinces of China. Assistance was channeled via a donor trust fund managed by the World Bank on behalf of several donors including the IBRD, World Health Organization and the UK’s Department of International Development. Such an arrangement was at the time the only method available to us to enable the transfer of large-scale financial aid to a Chinese ministry. Details of the projects which Canada supported are in the Archive.

Thursday, May 29

CCRels CCLA

Letter to M.P. Joe Volpe regarding turnover in Chinese Government senior staffs arising from the most recent – and significant – National People’s Congress session. One outcome is a change in membership of the Canada China Legislative Association.  

I informed Joe that only the new Chair – Lu Congmin – was a well-known Canada Hand, having been one of the first Chinese diplomats to serve at the Embassy in Ottawa in the 1970s. As articulate in English as in Chinese, he had also served in London. During the entire Premier-ship of Li Peng, Lu had served as the Premier’s foreign policy advisor at the State Council. He moved to the NPC in 1998, acting as Secretary General to the Standing Committee before his nomination in March to Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. My colleagues in the Political and Public Affairs Section of Embassy would be calling on the new membership in the coming weeks and months.

I sent a similar letter to Senator Jack Austin, co-Chair along with MP Volpe of the Canadian membership of the CCLA.

Typically, Jack answered my letter to him immediately – same date. He was pleased with the appointment of Lu Congmin who has known for years. He proposed a mid-September visit by the Chinese CLA membership, with Ottawa as the first stop for the CLA meeting, followed by travel to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Since I would be traveling to Canada over the next two weeks, Jack and I would meet in Vancouver before my return to Beijing.

…and later that afternoon, flew to Vancouver, then Ottawa for consultations with PMO, PCO, the Senate, DFAIT’s Minister’s office and departmental counterparts, a China Session at Carleton University, and a briefing session with the local business communities. A few days leave in Southern Ontario to visit my family, and dinner with Jack in Ottawa before returning to Beijing on Thursday, June 19. One echo of SARS in Vancouver: passengers were required to arrive at YVR at least 3 hours before flight time, for health checks. 

HRRol

Letter from Executive Director Ruth Selwyn, Canadian Human Rights Foundation thanking the Embassy for advice and support that the CHRF receives from Beijing and Canadian missions in strengthening the capacity of both the Canadian Government and NGOs in the promotion of human rights education programming.

Media

By copy of his letter to VP Luo Ming of China Central Television, CBC/Radio Canada Executive Director Bill Atkinson confirmed the CBC’s interest in exploring forms of cooperation with CCT.