Harper enlists activist to help Celil

Harper enlists activist to help Celil
U.S. businessman known for obtaining freedom of political prisoners in China



CAMPBELL CLARK

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

May 12, 2009 at 3:37 AM EDT

OTTAWA — The federal government has enlisted U.S. businessman turned activist John Kamm in efforts to secure the release of jailed Uyghur-Canadian Huseyin Celil and others in China, turning to more sophisticated approaches after years of fruitless efforts.

Mr. Kamm, a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, is legendary for obtaining the freedom of dissidents through respectful but persistent inquiries with Chinese officials at all levels - using an approach Beijing accepts to win ground on a tense topic. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ministers initially criticized the Chinese government when Mr. Celil, a Canadian citizen from China's Uyghur minority, was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 after a closed-door trial on terrorism charges.

But as they have attempted to thaw chilled relations with China in recent months, their criticisms regarding Mr. Celil and other rights cases have been less public.

Three weeks ago, Canadian officials brought in Mr. Kamm to seek his advice and help in meeting with aides to Mr. Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, as well as with Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
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Mr. Kamm is beginning to work on the case of Mr. Celil, who is in a remote prison in the northeast Chinese city of Urumqi.

Brock University China expert Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in China, said bringing in Mr. Kamm shows the government is looking for new options to handle such issues with "commitment and sophistication."

"I guess it also indicates that the government feels that we need to look outside Canada to get the expertise to try and engage China effectively on this matter," he said.

"The Chinese clearly respect him and are prepared to work with him despite the fact that [his organization's] raison-d'être is to try to assist people we feel have been unjustly imprisoned in China for political reasons."

The move comes as the Conservative government is trying to find its own new approach to China, with Mr. Cannon the latest minister to troop to Beijing, meeting Vice-President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi yesterday.

The Conservatives are also seeking to revive a revamped version of the Canada-China Human Rights dialogue - closed-door meetings between officials that were suspended in 2006 over criticisms they were little more than lip service to rights - but this time with domestic officials who have jurisdiction over rights issues, rather than diplomats.

After Mr. Harper's government's initial whacking of Beijing over rights cases, Canadian companies that do business in China raised fears trade would be hurt.

Mr. Kamm, once regional vice-president of Occidental Chemical Corp., made his U.S. Chamber of Commerce colleagues uneasy when he turned to pressing rights issues in China in 1990. But his Dui Hua Foundation - it means "dialogue" in Mandarin - is known for its smooth, effective touch.

"It's patience, and more importantly, persistence. You keep asking for information. You just never give up," Mr. Kamm said in an interview.

He declined to discuss Mr. Celil or any other case, but said that in general, he takes a respectful approach, making inquiries for information rather than demanding release, knowing China sometimes responds to repeated questions with early release.

He doesn't ask officials about political prisoners; he refers to the specific Chinese charge.

He fishes for better medical care, or transfer to a model prison, rather than immediate release.

He seeks to defuse the sentiment that a foreigner is insulting China's rights record, and avoids automatic replies.

"If you go in and say, 'I think this person has been wrongly imprisoned,' you'll get a stock response, which is, 'We treat people according to the rule of law.' That's the stock response," Mr. Kamm said.

"But if you say, I understand this person has cirrhosis of the liver, or ask about family visits, that's considered more helpful."

He said his work would not be viable without rights advocates pressing the issue. But he added that he uses the sales lessons from his liquor-salesman father, Arthur: concentrating on results, cultivating people in low positions because they may have authority later, and gathering the kind of details about who he is meeting that salesmen once kept in little black books. "I still do," he said.

Mr. Celil's Canadian lawyer, Chris MacLeod, said he has begun exchanging e-mails with Mr. Kamm, but the case has been through a period of "stagnation," and Canadian rights groups have called for more efforts.

"There really hasn't been a whole lot of talk recently about Mr. Celil," said Amnesty International Canada's China campaigner, Lindsay Mossman.

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Dealing with dissidents

Some of John Kamm's lessons for dealing with China on dissidents:

DIG UP EVERYTHING

Use details about the dissident in talks with officials.

USE THEIR LANGUAGE

He doesn't use the term "political prisoner."

DON'T DEMAND, ASK QUESTIONS

He makes repeated inquiries for information.

PREVENT AUTOMATIC RESPONSES

He attempts not to make officials defensive.

TALK TO EVERYONE

Including court officials, judges, prison officials, and government officials high and low.

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