Ottawa: Canada's Trade Minister David Emerson said today he is ready to go to the World Trade Organization to try to force China to allow its citizens to visit his country, if the issue is not resolved soon. In a teleconference from Beijing, he accused Chinese officials of unfair discrimination in refusing to designate Canada an approved tourism destination, while granting more than 130 other countries the special status.

After three years of fruitless negotiations, he said, "we really have got to the point where we have to move it along in a meaningful way in a relatively short time frame or we will have no choice but to explore the WTO option." The status quo "could do economic damage to Canada," he added, explaining that most foreign trips to the United States, which has been christened a favourable vacation spot by Beijing, include a stopover in Canada.

Emerson refused to "speculate" on the reasons behind the stalemate, but observers have suggested Ottawa s fierce human rights criticisms of China may have hit a nerve. "Sure, we are hearing people express concern that there may be some atmospheric frictions out there that they are a little bit concerned about, but (Chinese officials) are wanting to move on," commented Emerson.

In October, Beijing protested a meeting between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Dalai Lama in October, claiming the Nobel laureate is a dangerous figure agitating for Tibetan independence. The same month, Canada announced it would veto foreign takeovers of Canadian firms over national security concerns, if warranted. As well, it set out terms and conditions under which foreign state-owned companies sometimes guided by political motives would be allowed to acquire assets in Canada.

Source : PTI