FOREIGN MINISTER GOES TO CHINA

Minister MacKay Announces Trip to Norway, Belgium, China and South Korea

April 18, 2007
No. 58

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today announced that he will travel to Oslo, Norway, to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. The Minister will then visit Brussels, Belgium, to attend a high-level event on Afghanistan, travelling next to China and concluding his trip with a visit to South Korea.

The NATO meeting is one of two foreign ministers’ meetings that NATO holds each year. Minister MacKay will then travel to Brussels on April 28 to participate in a panel discussion on democracy in Afghanistan, as part of the Brussels Forum 2007.

In China, Minister MacKay’s program will include discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. This bilateral visit will serve as a further occasion to discuss a number of issues of importance to Canada, including the consular case of Huseyincan Celil, and to set priorities for productive cooperation between Canada and China.

On May 1 and 2, Minister MacKay will visit South Korea and meet Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon to discuss bilateral and multilateral issues, including Canada’s security interests in the region and the Six-Party talks on North Korea. The Minister will also visit the Demilitarized Zone to see first hand the area of past confrontation with North Korea.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca

APRIL 1st The First Year In Detention - Protesting Chinese Injustice

We are planning a protest in front of the Chinese Consulate Toronto for the First Year of Brother Huseyincan Celil's Detention with the association of the Uyghur Canadian Association.

We still do not know anything about Celil's second trial however with the help of our community we hired a Chinese lawyer to defend our brother Celil and inform us in anyway possible under the unjust treatment of Chinese Government .

We ask everybody to join us and spread the word around. At least kindly forward this message to your mailing list.

Protesting will be taken place in front of Chinese Consulate 240 St. George Street, Toronto between 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM on Sunday APRIL 1st.

For the Map >>>
For more information >>>

New Lawyer in China is on -We Thank to Our Community for their support

Since it has been three weeks we started the campaign for hiring a new lawyer in China for our brother Huseyincan Celil.
We have reached the targeted amount for the expenses of the new lawyer and he is on his way to Urumqi where our brother Celil is in prison.
We thank to our community for their generous supports. It is really important that we stand together at the times of our needs.
You can still send your donations… information here>>>

Supporters seeking new lawyer for Celil

Supporters of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen detained in China, say that his court-appointed lawyer is inadequate and that Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has recommended they obtain independent legal advice there.

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Engaging China requires a balance of values and interests

Let us therefore engage China effectively on human rights. Let us also have a comprehensive and balanced framework for our bilateral and multilateral discussions. For the pursuit of values without also emphasizing interests puts both at risk.

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Senator blasts Harper's stand on China

Senator Jack Austin said former prime minister Jean Chretien was particularly successful in securing the release of political prisoners.
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Resolve dual-citizenship row with China, MPs urged

300,000 Canadian passport holders at risk because of Beijing's policy, experts warn

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Another Canadian held by Chinese

A Chinese Canadian businessman from Mississauga has been detained – without formal charge – in Fujian, China, for four months in the midst of a business dispute with his distribution company's Hong Kong supplier.

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Canadians Assess Action on Huseyin Celil Case

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in Canada have a clear idea of the way their federal administration should deal with the case of Huseyin Celil, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 53 per cent of respondents think the Canadian government should protest the treatment of Celil, who is being held by Chinese authorities on terrorism charges, through regular diplomatic channels.

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Who is Huseyin Celil?

Caught in the grip of Beijing

He is a very stubborn man, a pious imam and a proud Uighur. He's drawn the wrath of China's authorities who brand him a terrorist. Huseyin Celil is also a Canadian, jailed in an unknown prison in western China. And his case is straining relations between the two nations

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070217.CELIL17/TPStory/TPInternational/Asia/?pageRequested=all

These days, attention is focused on the case of Huseyin Celil, who emigrated to Canada from China. On a trip to Uzbekistan, he was arrested and shipped to China. He has been held at an undisclosed location for about eight months.

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Celil Needs Your Help!

HE NEEDS OUR HELP!
Celil’s situation is getting worse and terrifying along with the latest bad news of Ismail Samed’s execution whose case was parallel to Celil’s.
As you know recent updates below, China does not allow any Canadian officials or lawyers to defend Huseyincan Celil through his trial started recently.
This seems unfair and unjust yet we should remember that we are dealing with biggest horrendous and horrific country in the world, communist China.
Celil’s family lawyer Chris MacLeod said that He couldn’t get to China because China did not approved his travel visa.
Therefore we have no choice but hiring another lawyer in China who can be able to defend Celil and provide us his updates in Urumqi, China.
With the help of Chris Macleod and Amnesty Canada another lawyer in China will be hired.
We need to raise up to $12.000 to cover new lawyer expenses. Already we have matching $3000 promised by Amnesty Canada.
We need our community’s support on this fund. We ask everybody to involve and help out.
Please spread this campaign everyone in your mailing lists and let everybody know.
We also ask our community leaders to participate and inform their people through their services.
Please contact us via freehcorg@gmail.com for more information on transferring your donations or any other concerns.

Terrifying parallels

Man executed in China belonged to same minority group as Burlington detainee

By Dana Borcea
With Spectator wire services
(Feb 10, 2007)

The wife of a Burlington man imprisoned in China is reeling after hearing that another man, detained for similar reasons, has been executed.

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Celil Won't Face Death Penalty in China: MacKay

Josh Pringle
Sunday, February 11, 2007

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay says the Canadian Government is doing everything it can to convince China to respect the rights of Huseyin Celil.

The Burlington father of six is accused of terrorism, and China doesn't recognize his dual citizenship.

MacKay told CTV's Question Period that there's no reason why Canada cannot insist on respect for human rights, and still have trade with China.
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Harper warns China on human-rights trade threat

y Randall Palmer Fri Feb 9, 5:58 PM ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned Beijing on Friday against trying to use trade as a lever to deflect criticism of its human rights record, including its treatment of a Canadian imprisoned in China.
He gave a blunt response to remarks by a Chinese official, published on Friday, that the two countries need to trust each other for their economic relationship to flourish.
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Canada-China row intensifies over terrorism charges

Montreal- The Canadian government came under fire Thursday for its handling of a diplomatic row with China, after the family of a Chinese-Canadian held on terrorism charges said he had been abandoned by Canadian diplomats. Huseyin Celil, a member of the Muslim ethnic Uighur community who lived in the Xingjiang province of China, was arrested on terrorism charges in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent while visiting family on March 27, 2006.

He was extradited to China three months later under an agreement between the Uzbek and Chinese governments.
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China Executes Uighur Activist ISMAIL SAMED

BEIJING — China has executed Uighur Muslim activist Ismail Samed on charges of "splitting the Chinese motherland" with rights groups and his lawyer slamming his trial as politically motivated and unfair.
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Canadian 'anger' at China trial

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to be "displeased" that Canadian diplomats did not attend the trial in China of a Canadian Uighur.

Huseyincan Celil, an ethnic Uighur and a rights activist, is on trial on terrorism charges in Urumqi in Xinjiang, home to a Muslim majority.

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China rejects concerns about Muslim activist

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday Canadian diplomats had no right to be present at a court hearing for a Chinese Uighur Muslim accused of terrorism who was awarded joint Canandian citizenship two years ago.

Yu Shanjiang, also known as Huseyincan Celil, fled China in the 1990s and traveled last year to Uzbekistan, where he was detained and then extradited back to China on terrorism charges.

China has not recognized his Canadian citizenship, obtained in 2005.

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Detainee alive, tortured in jail, wife learns

Kamila Telendibaeva is now sure of two things she didn't know last week.

One is that her husband is alive. The other is that Chinese authorities have tortured him in prison.

"I'm 100 per cent sure they did it," she said yesterday.

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