After saying in April that he would not attend the Bejing Olympics opening ceremonies, Prime Minister Harper is looking increasingly isolated.
Any idea of a general boycott has collapsed. President Bush has changed his mind and is now going. So is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who only this spring seemed poised to lead a boycott.
Harper has said his no-show has nothing to do with China’s human rights record. What does it have to do with then? As China struggles to reconcile its shift toward free-market economics with its authoritarian governance, Harper risks being on the side lines at a pivotal moment when other world leaders will be trying to exercise their influence.
It’s plain as a pikestaff. Harper should join Bush and Sarkozy and other world leaders in attending. The prospect of isolating China having evaporated, he risks isolating Canada instead. If Harper has a message to deliver in China, he should now deliver it in person.
Do you agree?
That’s what comes when you try to be someone else. Harper mimicked Dubbia. Dubbia let him down. Unfortunately it also damages Canada. Jean de la Fontaine had a fable about that: Le pot de terre et le pot de fer.
Paul:-
If Harper is not boycotting the ceremonies because of China’s human rights violations, it is very difficult to know why he is doing so. He should come clean and tell us.