BEIJING (AP) - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien raised human rights concerns with Chinese leaders Sunday and oversaw the signing of an agreement on legal reforms at the start of visit focusing on Chinese-Canadian business ties.
Chretien met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and watched as officials signed a series of pacts at the Great Hall of the People, the government headquarters in Beijing.
Leading a 500-member trade delegation, Chretien told Zhu he hoped the visit would replicate the success of a similar trip in 1994 and ``lead to a lot of good business cooperation between Canada and China.''
Zhu called the business-oriented approach an ``innovative form of diplomacy which has made a contribution to the bilateral relations between our two countries.''
Reporters were barred from the rest of their discussion.
Senior Canadian officials said that during the 90-minute meeting, Chretien raised concerns about Chinese rule in Tibet and Beijing's crackdown on the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement.
Chretien was ``very specific in saying these are his concerns and those of Canadians, that we consider them problems,'' one official said. The Canadian officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Canadian lawmakers have pressed Chretien to urge China to hold negotiations with the Tibetan government in exile headed by the Dalai Lama.
Zhu responded by repeating China's assertion that it will talk with the Dalai Lama if he meets certain conditions, said the officials. Zhu also defended the crackdown on Falun Gong. China banned Falun Gong as an evil cult and accuses it of swindling followers and driving them to insanity or even death through its dangerous teachings.
Falun Gong and human rights groups say at least 112 people have died from police mistreatment during the often violent 18-month-long campaign against the sect.
China, which occupied Tibet with troops in 1950, has harshly repressed all challenges to Chinese rule and seeks to stamp out allegiance to the Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against communist rule.
Zhu also pledged that China's legislature would ratify one of two key U.N. human rights and civil liberties covenants next months. Both have been signed by China's government but need legislative approval to take effect.
State television quoted Zhu saying that China adheres to broad international standards of human rights. But he added it was up to individual countries to apply rights to fit their specific conditions - a standard Chinese response to criticism. China is willing to open ``exchanges and dialogue'' with Canada on rights issues, the report quoted Zhu saying.
The agreements signed Sunday included one that would further cooperation in setting up legal aid centers throughout China and promoting reforms of the criminal justice system, part of Canadian efforts to engage China on human rights and the rule of law. Other agreements covered cooperation in the energy sector, poverty reduction and the environment.
Before meeting with Zhu, Chretien lunched with China's minister for development and planning, Zeng Peiyan, and leaders from western provinces where China has launched ambitious development projects.
China is among Canada's top trading partners, and Chretien's entourage included representatives of the aerospace and energy industries. Canadian officials say they expect 173 business agreements will be signed during the visit, which will also take Chretien to China's commercial center, Shanghai, and the western city of Xi'an.
AP-NY-02-11-01 1721EST
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.