Editorial Hopes for China betray opur naivete

We had come to believe that the People’s Republic of China would eventually live up to its name, that its long march to democratization was well advanced, that social reforms would follow closely the economic re forms which had opened the country to casual visitors and businessmen alike.

Only recently we reported in The Northern Miner that the Chinese had set up a metals trading shop in Toronto called the China National Nonferrous Metals Import & Export Corp. Two of our reporters were granted lengthy interviews with a visiting Chinese gold mining delegation and found that these representatives of China were working hard at understanding our ways. They bluntly refused to answer certain questions (the quantity of gold the country produces annually, for example), but otherwise were eager and candid.

Now, however, the relationship between our two countries has been damaged. To what extent we can’t tell. The Canadian government might find it difficult to deal on a diplomatic level with a government whose leaders’ hands still drip blood. No doubt trade will continue, but under a dark cloud. (The lesser tragedy in this, but a tragedy nonetheless, is that trade between our two countries was beginning to move to a new level of confidence and trust. In all likelihood, it has been dealt a severe setback.)

We would wish that the events in China of the past few weeks had never occurred. We would wish that the Chinese leadership under Deng Xiaoping would quit its terrible manhunt. We would wish that the vengeful crew we see misguiding that country today would yield to the more benevolent and increasingly democratic leadership we thought we knew.

From China, we had come to expect more. Apparently, we were as naive as its children.

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