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NEWS |
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| ELECTORNIC EDITION |
| 2008-01-18 |
| ·WEST ·EAST |
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GLOBAL CHINESE PRESS |
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Refugee Concerns Behind Travel Status Delay: China
Jeff Davis 2008-01-18 14:46 Embassy | Ambassador worries Chinese tourists would exploit Canada's immigration policies if it were given Approved Destination Status, a concern experts say is a red herring.
As frustration mounts over China's failure to grant Canada Approved Destination Status, which would open the door to greater numbers of Chinese visitors to the country, China's ambassador is pointing to immigration and refugee issues as one of the hang ups.
Meanwhile, some say China is playing politics with ADS, holding back because of cooling diplomatic relations.
Canada was among the first countries to apply for ADS in 1999, and has stewed as 138 countries have received it. ADS would allow large groups of tourists to visit Canada.
When asked why Canada has not received ADS, Ambassador Lu Shumin said people in the tourist groups that would come with ADS approval may want to stay in Canada.
"We have 1.3 billion people," he told Embassy after speaking to the Canada-China Friendship Society in Ottawa on Jan. 10. "If only a very tiny proportion of the population came here, what would happen if only a few of these tourists groups wanted to stay?"
Mr. Lu said that there have been cases of Chinese coming to Canada on tourist visas, claiming refugee status, and staying for good.
"We have quite a few cases here, and we haven't settled down these cases, because these people are taking advantage of your immigration policies and some of your political procedures," he said. "In our relationship, we don't want to see more and more cases like that.
"We want to make sure that when tourists from China come to this country, they are happy, and when they go back they are also happy," he said.
Mr. Lu also cited the case of Lai Changxing, an alleged smuggling kingpin who is in Canada on a refugee claim, and other such cases as irritants slowing the progress of ADS.
"There are cases like that; there are many," he says. "I don't specify that as the major [issue], but certainly that is one."
The Lai case has dragged on since 1999, when he claimed refugee status in Canada. Most recently, Justice Yves de Montigny overturned Mr. Lai's deportation order after a judicial review decision in April. This was done on the grounds that, despite diplomatic assurances from the Chinese he would not be tortured, Justice de Montigny still felt Mr. Lai was at risk.
Don DeVoretz, director of the Centre for Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis at Simon Fraser University, said the Chinese fail to understand that Canada cannot simply deport those who claim refugee status.
"The fundamentals of refugee law, the legal structure and appeal, prohibit us from doing what they think is the right thing to do, which is deport these people," he added.
"They really don't understand what refugee policy is all about," he said. "They don't understand this is due process. They don't get it."
Mr. DeVoretz said the situation has been inflamed by other issues, such as the low-key but continual protest Falun Gong is mounting against the Chinese consulate in Vancouver.
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