At Home: Ontario Stays the Course with Trade Mission to China

Despite all the controversy over dealings with China as of late, the government of Ontario decided to continue its trade mission to the country.

Sandra Pupatello, Ontario’s trade minister, travelled to China late last week with the goal of promoting business between Ontario and China.

China has been taking a lot of hits from the world over its stance on Tibet as well as other human rights issues. With the upcoming Olympic games to be held in Beijing this year, protests have been specifically aimed toward China and its questionable stance on human rights policies.

However, as CTV News reported, the premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, ?believes in Canada’s long-standing police of engaging China when it comes to trade.?

Provincial Liberals insisted that keeping the dialogue open with China is a better way to deal with any controversial issues. The opposing Conservatives in the province stated that Sandra Pupatello should not go ahead with the trip. They noted that job loss numbers in Ontario were their main problem with the trade mission, rather than the human rights matters.

The Ontario NDP’s stance on the matter is that the continuation of the trade mission at this time wrongly sends the message to China that Ontarians don’t care about the problems facing Tibet.

Ms. Pupatello noted that she hoped to be able to bring up the problematic issues with Chinese officials during the visit, but in private forums rather than public ones.

In Foreign News: Archeological Treasure to be Flooded in Turkey

Once again, the preservation of the world’s history is clashing with development in the name of progress and efficiency. In Turkey, the ancient site of Allianoi is facing destruction in order to make way for a new dam.

Allianoi is approximately 2,000 years old and was the site of a thermal bathing facility that was considered to be one of the world’s most important healing centres up until modern times. The natural spring waters in the area are naturally warmed and have been considered therapeutic for centuries.

This historically significant site was only discovered 10 years ago and was excavated by archaeologists despite future plans for the flooding of the area. Experts say that the ?best preserved thermal spa from the 2nd century AD? was found when the area was examined.

While the historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists continue to pore over the site for every bit of information it has to tell, dam builders are preparing to move in and proceed with their project. The water that is to be collected by the new dam is slated to provide irrigation to Turkish farmers who produce crops that would benefit greatly from added summer watering. Up to 18,000 hectares of crop-producing land would benefit from the irrigation system supplied by the dam.

This dam building project has been in the works for as long as 60 years and was not controversial until the ruins were found. Turkey’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Conservation stated recently that they have decided to let the ancient site go for the dam building.

Coincidentally, it was the leading excavator that found the historically significant site that sparked this clash of ideals.