Canada proposed dropping the words "human rights" from...

Canada proposed dropping the words "human rights" from its foreign-aid strategy for China, angering activists and raising questions about the direction of one of its most expensive aid programs.Along with "democratic development," the term has been removed from a new version of the strategy unveiled recently at meetings among officials, consultants and institutions involved with aid to China.An official at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) sought to play down the proposed change, saying Canada is finding it easier to press for respect for the rule of law and equitable access to justice in its dealings with China.But human-rights advocates say the move smacks of an attempt to appease China at a time when the world's largest Communist country is under attack over repression of ethnic minorities and application of the death penalty. The proposed change comes in a draft "country-development programming framework" for China that would set out aid priorities for the next several years. China received $67.45-million in Canadian development assistance in 2000-01, the third-largest recipient country after Bangladesh and India. CIDA's current aid strategy in China has three broad components: economic growth; environmental sustainability; and a category called "human rights, democratic development and good governance."The new document calls the third category simply "good governance." The goal, it says, would be to "support Chinese efforts to increase rule of law as a means to uphold the rights of its women and men."Vaughn Lanz, assistant director of planning in CIDA's China division, said the agency had no desire to play down the importance of human rights."I think the type of programming we're doing is increasing emphasis on human rights," he said. He cited projects such as the training of Chinese judges by Canadian experts and proposals to seek better access to legal-aid services in China.Asked why the human-rights focus couldn't be explicit in the new strategy, Lanz replied: "Certainly that's a possibility. It's possible that there will be a number of changes."China is famously sensitive to criticism of its human-rights record.