Published by: World Tibet Network News Saturday, November 29, 1997

OTTAWA, Nov. 28 (UPI) _ Prime Minister Jean Chretien says Canada and China will co-chair an international symposium on human rights to be held on Canadian soil in March next year.

Chretien was speaking at a press conference today after discussions with Chinese President Jiang Zemin, currently on a state visit to Canada following the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vancouver, British Columbia.

He says Canada is to assist China in training judges and to draft laws, on ``human rights, and so on.''

Jiang, however, ducked a question on how he would react if a situation similar to the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstration were to occur during his term as president of China.

Chretien says a Canadian human rights commissioner ``has visited China a few times and we believe that through a dialogue like this one we also understand each other better.''

Jiang's state visit has been marked by demonstrations, with human rights protesters condemning China for its record on democracy and its continued occupation of Tibet.

Wednesday, a Tibetan immigrant leading protesters in Calgary, Alberta, said she was ``very outraged'' that Jiang was receiving a red carpet welcome in Canada while Tibet was still occupied by Chinese troops.

Chinese-American activist Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in a Chinese labor camp, took a similar line Thursday before a foreign affairs committee hearing in the House of Commons.

Wu says, ``Dialogue is good, communication is also very good, but the state dinner, the red carpet for a Communist slaughterer is a shame to democratic government.''

In Calgary, where Jiang visited a Northern Telecom facility, the company says it has signed contracts worth US$95 million with customers in China for the supply of network switching equipment.