Canada's International Human Rights Policy in Practice: Tiananmen Square

The China Challenge : Sino-Canadian Relations in the 21st Century

“…Canada banned sales to China of weaponry and other goods deemed to have military applications, CIDA suspended negotiations with China's Ministry of Commerce for development aid projects worth a total of about CA$ 60 million, and CA$ 11 million worth of ongoing programming was scrapped, since China would not send participants to Canada for training as they would likely not return to 40 Th e China Challenge China. A moratorium on high-level contacts between the governments of Canada and China was also announced (see Gecelovsky and Keenleyside 1995). In 1990 the reduced Canadian Embassy in Beijing was directed by Ottawa that there should be "no celebratory activities" marking the twentieth anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations.…”

“…In the months and years that followed, a series of cabinet ministers met with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing and took part in bilateral consultations at international meetings in other countries. Th ere was a strong policy undercurrent that supported continued engagement of China as the most eff ective way to realize Canada's aspirations for that nation (see Gecelovsky and Keenleyside 1995 China in 1996China in , 1998China in and 2001. Th e last was the largest trade mission in Canadian history to date.…”

After the Missionaries: Churches and Human Rights NGOs in Canadian relations with China

“…Indeed, Canadian aid in this period was marginally more likely to flow to countries with poor human rights records than those with better records. 36 The aid-rights linkage, in other words, has been almost entirely rhetorical.…”

Falun Gong, the diaspora and Chinese identity : fieldwork among the practicioners in Ottawa

“…As an example of how Canada reacted to the Tiananmen Square massacre, on June 30 1989, Ottawa announced that Chinese students who wished to remain in Canada could have their visas extended for one year and the priority was to be given to those students and their families who wished to file for permanent resident status as a special humanitarian case. By April 1990, there were 8,703 Chinese applicants for permanent residence in Canada, 7,666 of them (including 2,374 who applied for refugee status) were accepted (Gecelovsky and Keenleyside 1995). John, Carlos and Amy were granted citizenship under these circumstances.…”