26. Jul 2006
China warns Canada over Dalai Lama’s honorary citizenship
(Reuters) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has warned Canada that its decision to bestow honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama could hurt commercial relations between the two countries, which have been steadily growing stronger. Canada's Parliament unanimously approved the award of an honorary citizenship in June 2006, which will be bestowed on the Dalai Lama when he visits Vancouver in early September 2006. Zhang Weidong, political counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, Canada, said his officials had already complained to the Canadian Foreign Ministry about the award. "The Dalai Lama is a separatist so I don't think he should be honoured with that. That will harm the Canadian image and harm the relationship between China and Canada", he told a news conference. Asked if this represented a threat to Canadian firms, he replied: "I don't think it's a threat. I'm just trying to make things clearer. It is a clear fact and quite obvious". Canada's previous Liberal government was enthusiastic about boosting ties with the PRC and sent several high-level trade missions headed by prime ministers, but the new Conservative government, which took power in February 2006, is adopting a somewhat cooler attitude toward Beijing and has already complained about Chinese industrial espionage in Canada.