Canadian PM to attend APEC
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E-mail China Daily, October 31, 2014
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Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at the Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus in front of an audience of school children in Vaughan, October 30, 2014. [Photo/China Daily via agencies] |
The visit of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to China in November was reconfirmed after speculation that it might be canceled after recent violence in Canada.
A senior Chinese diplomat confirmed that Harper will be in Beijing to attend the November APEC leaders meeting.
The confirmation followed comments from Harper's office this week suggesting that he had canceled plans to attend the APEC meeting in the wake of terror attacks in Canada that claimed the lives of two soldiers.
There was even speculation that Harper would not attend the APEC event after relations with China hit a rocky patch earlier this year.
China's Ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui said at a reception at his residence on Wednesday that Harper will pay an official visit and attend the annual gathering of the 21 APEC member economies.
China places priority on the China-Canada relationship and firmly believes that Harper's visit will bring "positive results", Luo said, according to a China News Service report on Wednesday.
Harper's office had initially said he would be in Ottawa for Canada's Nov 11 Remembrance Day, which honors the country's war dead. The date coincides with the APEC meeting.
The November visit will be Harper's third to China as prime minister. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Wednesday that Beijing has everything in place to successfully host the APEC meeting.
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