WRAP Canadian FM Peter MacKay meets Chinese FM; ADDS presser

• published: 30 Jul 2015
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1. Pan of Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, walking towards and shaking hands with Canadian Foreign Minister, Peter MacKay 2. Wide of meeting room 3. Mid of Yang speaking 4. Mid of Mackay speaking 5. Wide of meeting room 6. Wide of MacKay walking to podium 7. Cutaway, media 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter MacKay, Canadian Foreign Minister: "I of course raised the case of Mr. (Huseyin) Celil (Canadian citizen imprisoned in China), and in particular expressed our deep disappointment that we have thus far been denied access to that Canadian citizen. I told the minister of foreign affairs about our government's, our parliament's and our Canadian citizens' strong interest and ongoing concern that we have not been given the access to this Canadian citizen." 9. Cutaway, media 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter MacKay, Canadian Foreign Minister: "We have left no doubt in the mind of the foreign minister, and that of Chinese officials, how seriously we view this case and how determined we are to obtain consular access to him. As you know, there is appeal in process and we will continue to insist upon consular access and at the same provide support and information, as forthcoming as it is, to his wife Kamila (Telendibaeva) in Canada and work with our officials here as we have done since this case first came to our attention." 11. Cutaway, media 12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Peter MacKay, Canadian Foreign Minister: "Well, I raised this issue directly to my counterpart today, our concerns about mistreatment of Mr. Celil. He assured me that this was not the case, that there had been no signs of torture or mistreatment of Mr. Celil. He also advised me that Mr. Celil has been treated in a humane fashion in conjunction with, and in compliance with, international human rights standards." 13. Cutaway, media 14. Wide of MacKay leaving news conference STORYLINE: Canada's Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said he had been assured by his Chinese counterpart on Monday that a Canadian Muslim activist serving a life sentence in a Chinese jail for alleged terror links had not been tortured. MacKay said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had assured him, "that there had been no signs of torture or mistreatment of Mr. Celil". Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen, was earlier this month convicted by a court in China's far western Xinjiang region of the crimes of "separating China" and "organising, leading and participating in terrorist groups, organisations". MacKay told reporters that he asked Yang about concerns that Celil may have been tortured and was advised that he had "been treated in a humane fashion in conjunction with and in compliance with international human rights standards". Mackay said he had also spoken to his Chinese counterpart about Canada's "deep disappointment" that officials had been denied access to Celil. "I told the minister of foreign affairs about our government's, our parliament's and our Canadian citizens' strong interest and ongoing concern that we have not been given the access to this Canadian citizen," MacKay said. "We have left no doubt in the mind of the foreign minister, and that of Chinese officials, how seriously we view this case and how determined we are to obtain consular access to him," he added. Celil's status has been a point of contention between Canada and China, which does not recognise Celil's Canadian citizenship and says his case is not subject to consular agreements. MacKay said the sides agreed to review their consular agreements, including the issue of dual nationality. During their four-hour meeting, they also talked about human rights, environmental protection, health, enhancing cooperation in Afghanistan and climate change, he said, but gave no specifics. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cc9bb4ccf98d7266b95d51e2f3432c3d Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork