Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Mackay arrived in Beijing yesterday for a three-day tour of China that is expected to further mutual understanding and trust between the two countries.

Mackay is to meet with State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan and Yang Jiechi, China's new foreign minister, during his visit.

"It is expected that through frank and constructive talks on bilateral ties and major international and regional issues of common concern, they will work together on shared interests and explore ways to deal with differences and conflicts," said Tao Wenzhao, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

During his official visit to Canada in 2005, President Hu Jintao and then Canadian prime minister Paul Martin announced a strategic partnership between the two countries.

However, bilateral ties have soured since the Conservative Party took power in 2006. Ottawa differs with Beijing on a number of issues, including the human rights.

The latest dispute is on the case of Huseyin Celil, 37, an ethnic Uygur in Northwest China's Xinjiang, who was sentenced to life in prison for "the crime of splitting the motherland" and involvement in terrorism.

The sentencing sparked anger in Canada, but China said that Celil's sentence was "related to anti-terrorism" and did not concern Canada.

"It is expected that Canada can take a proper position on the matter, and Mackay's visit could play a positive role in developing bilateral relations," said Tao.

"As two important Pacific-Rim countries, cultivating an all-round cooperation through a strategic partnership is very much in the interest of our two countries, and also contributes greatly to stability in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond," he noted.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said last week that China hopes that Mackay's visit would "play positive role in improving and developing Sino-Canadian relations."

Liu said that the two sides could discuss ways of enhancing mutual political trust, economic cooperation, cultural and human exchanges as well as bilateral cooperation on international affairs.

Source: China Daily