China President Hu Jintao is changed China strategically

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit resource-rich Canada this week to cement relations with a country that is becoming an increasingly important strategic partner for Beijing. China is actively looking for more sources of energy to boost its roaring economy and this year Chinese firms have invested in two projects in Alberta's rich oil sands, which rival Saudi Arabia's conventional reserves in size. "Obviously China has a strong interest in getting a piece of the action in the key areas where they see themselves as a long term customer -- minerals and energy are key," a senior Canadian government official told Reuters. "Canada's relationship with China has changed in the same way that China has changed. China is now a global player ... what we're seeking with China is a strategic partnership, a strategic alliance in those areas which can be mutually beneficial." The official said it was unlikely that Hu would get into specific details about investment in the oil sands during his talks in Canada. Hu's visit is only the third by a Chinese president since the two nations established diplomatic relations in 1970 and the first since 1997. More than a million Canadians are of Chinese descent. "There are no conflicts of fundamental interests between China and Canada. On the contrary, there are many issues where we have common interests," said He Yafei, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of North American Affairs. Hu had also been due to hold talks with President Bush but the meeting was postponed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. While Ottawa portrays the bilateral relationship as complex and says the two sides will discuss climate change, trade, investment, energy and other issues, some observers feel human rights should top the agenda. "As long as (China) treats its own citizens in an arbitrary fashion, other countries will wonder about its international intentions. So let's welcome Mr Hu as we must; but let's not forget the nature of his regime," the Globe and Mail newspaper said in an editorial on Tuesday. A spokesman for the Falun Gong spiritual movement -- which Beijing banned in 1999 -- said it wanted Prime Minister Paul Martin "to publicly call on Hu Jintao to end the crimes against humanity against Falun Gong practitioners in China." The Canadian official said Martin and others had no intention of avoiding the question of human rights. "On the whole the relationship is a very positive one but there are (issues) relating to human rights. It's something we have to work at in the longer term," the official said. "It's not going to go away and it's something that we're willing to engage China on and address these issues very frankly and very candidly." Hu will be in eastern Canada from September 8 to 11 before attending a United Nations summit. He will then fly to western Canada for two days on September 16.

Canadian Trade disputes Vs United States

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States appealed a World Trade Organization panel ruling on Tuesday against U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber, as it called for renewed negotiations to resolve the long-running dispute. The case is one of several Ottawa filed after Washington slapped duties on Canadian softwood lumber in March 2002 to offset alleged subsidies and unfair pricing. Since then, both sides have been able to claim some victories in various cases heard by WTO or North American Free Trade Agreement dispute panels. The latest appeal stemmed from a WTO panel report released on August 1 which found fault with how the United States had implemented a previous ruling against U.S. countervailing duties on Canadian lumber, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office said. The case also concerned how the United States calculates Canadian government subsidies when logs are sold from one Canadian producer to another, the spokeswoman said. The long-running dispute has strained trade relations between the United States and Canada. Ottawa reacted angrily when Washington refused to scrape its lumber duties after a NAFTA panel ruled against them on August 10. However, a few weeks later, the WTO backed U.S. claims that imports of Canadian lumber threatened the U.S. industry. The United States argues the only way to resolve the dispute once and for all is through negotiation. "Litigation has obviously not proved to be an effective way to resolve this relatively small but highly disruptive agreement," U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said on in an op-ed piece published on Saturday in the Globe and Mail, a Toronto-based Canadian newspaper. "Canada's recent decision to cancel negotiations was unfortunate, particularly given that progress was being made," Portman said. "We are still waiting to see the Canadian counterproposal (to a U.S. proposal made in July). We are, and have been, ready to meet," he said. Portman noted Canada enjoys a record $139 billion trade surplus with the United States and the two countries are each other's largest trading partners. Softwood lumber accounts for less than 3 percent of Canada's exports to the United States, and most of the trade between the two countries is dispute free, Portman said.