Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao during an international summit in Vietnam this week despite earlier reports that Beijing had refused a meeting.
On Wednesday, Canadian officials said China rejected a private meeting reportedly because of Ottawa's criticisms of its human rights record and a case involving a Chinese-Canadian man being held prisoner.
But on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a news conference in Beijing that Hu would meet Harper. She said, however, China rejects any criticism of its human rights situation.
"We oppose any country making irresponsible remarks on the internal affairs of China," Jiang said.
The two leaders will be in Hanoi along with 19 other world leaders to discuss trade and security issues at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) conference on the weekend. It wasn't immediately clear what form the meeting between Harper and Hu would take. Article continues....
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