From the Readers

An inaccuracy about Canada

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-02 07:48

On May 6, 2010, your newspaper published on its front page an interview with Qu Tanzhou, director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, in which it was mentioned that "Canada has asked China to build an Arctic research station". Please allow me to clarify that although Canada highly values international collaboration on Arctic issues, Canada did not invite China, nor any other country, to build a research station in the Canadian Arctic.

Canada's Arctic makes up over 40 percent of our landmass and is home to more than 100,000 Canadians. It is an essential part of our national identity and an area of growing importance in the development of our country. The Government of Canada exercises its Arctic sovereignty responsibly and is dedicated to ensuring that the international spotlight stays focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the region. Canada has been at the forefront in the negotiation of international environmental instruments that address critical issues such as pollution and the need to protect and preserve our unique Arctic environment. With its Arctic neighbors, Canada has also taken steps to ensure that economic and social development is sustainable and benefits Arctic inhabitants. Real efforts have been made to ensure that decisions affecting Northerners, including indigenous peoples, involve the communities themselves.

Science and technology underpins all aspects of Canada's Arctic policy and approximately 15 percent of the world's Arctic science and technology papers are Canadian. In order to ensure that Canada remains a global leader in that field, the government of Canada committed in 2007 to establish a new world-class research station in the High Arctic. Our last federal budget included significant investment towards that goal.

Canada considers that the challenges facing Arctic science require international collaboration. During the 2007-08 International Polar Year (IPY), thousands of scientists and researchers from more than 60 nations participated in collaborative polar research projects around the globe. Six Chinese scientists participated in the largest of the IPY projects funded by Canada in the western Canadian Arctic. Although Canada itself will proceed on the construction of its High Arctic research station, it will continue to promote involvement of foreign scientists in Arctic research activities.

I trust that these facts will provide you with a fuller understanding of Canada's Arctic policy and leading role in the field of Arctic science, as well as clarifying the situation with respect to our High Arctic research station.

David Mulroney,

Ambassador of Canada to the People's Republic of China

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(China Daily 06/02/2010 page9)