Prime Minister Stephen Harper received a critical but optimistic welcome in China, on the first day of an official visit to the Asian giant.
On Wednesday, the government-run China Daily newspaper ran a story touting Harper's arrival as a sign that ties between the two countries may "thaw." After the Conservatives took power, the paper said, Canadian-Chinese relations "hit rock bottom."
Another article described Harper's visit, his first to China since taking office in 2006, as "late" but "still welcome."
The prime minister has publicly condemned human rights abuses in the Communist-run country, which has led to strained ties at times. Last year, he declined to attend the Beijing Olympics. In 2007, he met the Dalai Lama publicly, fraying relations further.
In his first year in office, the prime minister famously declared that he would not sacrifice human rights for "the almighty dollar."
An editorial in the Global Times, a publication of the country's Communist party, accused Harper of criticizing the country's government to appease his electoral base, and of turning "a cold shoulder to China."
Local media reports also described the visit as a chance to improve ties with Canada.
After touching down on Wednesday evening, Harper told reporters he aims to build on trade and business opportunities, and improve relations between the two countries.
He said he hopes to accomplish that without compromising what he described as Canadian values.
"Those are the things we live by, those are the things that give us the prosperity and peaceful and pluralistic society that we enjoy," Harper said. "So we never check those things at the door."
He described Canada's relationship with China as "good and frank."
Elliot Tepper, a professor at Carleton University who specializes in Asian Studies, said the visit shows that Ottawa is taking its relationship with China seriously. But that doesn't mean human-rights issues are off the table.
"Any irritants that remain on the agenda between the two states are fair game in a bilateral visit of this nature," Tepper told News Channel on Thursday. "That includes human rights."
Harper is scheduled to move on to South Korea next on his East Asia trip. While there, he is expected to address the country's parliament, a first for a Canadian prime minister.
"The entire East Asia trip is really a milestone for Canada," Tepper said. "This is a government which devoted much of its energies to internal matters in the early years, but they are really making the Canadian flag known on the evolving world stage."
With files from The Canadian Press
