The people of China, not its leadership, will be the ones to fuel democratic reform in that country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday.
Harper was commenting on the upcoming change of leadership in Beijing, where both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are set to hand over the reins to a younger generation. The world is trying to assess what the shift means. Likely not much, Harper said.
"I would say that at this point, our assessment is probably that it's more continuity than change, but we will be examining that care-fully," Harper told reporters at a joint news conference with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. "Of course part of our engagement with China ... involves the promotion of our basic values, freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and I do believe as prosperity grows in countries, pressures and expectations on those matters among the populations inevitably increase."
The Philippines is a country that has seen transformative change with the arrival of a new leader.
Aquino has led an aggressive anti-corruption campaign aimed at making his country more attractive for trade and investment.
But he's also taken steps to protect the nation's environment and resources by placing a moratorium on new mining contracts while drafting reforms to the system.
And he has taken action to address internal security concerns by recently forging a pact with a Muslim minority seeking its own autonomous region.
Harper is the first G8 leader to visit Aquino since he took office in 2010, and the first Canadian prime minister to visit the Philippines since 1997. The two countries are hoping to boost bilateral trade, which is currently a modest $1.5 billion annually.
Harper took part in a wreath-laying at a monument to nationalist hero Jose Rizal.
On Saturday afternoon, Harper and his wife, Lau-reen, took a quick ride in a "Jeepney," the colourful jitneys that transport Filipinos from place to place.
