Opposition critics demanded yesterday that Ottawa scale back the amount of foreign aid it sends to China, a country that ranks as the fourth-largest beneficiary of Canadian aid even though it has put an astronaut in space and spends billions every year building an advanced military machine. Figures for Canada's Official Development Assistance show China received $65.4-million in aid behind India, Bangladesh and Cameroon, which ranks first at $96.2-million. Vietnam, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Afghanistan follow closely behind China. China actually ranks second behind Bangladesh on the list of the 30 major recipients of Canada's $2.9-billion annual foreign aid budget, when debt relief and aid through multilateral institutions are excluded. In some cases, millions of dollars went to help Chinese farmers adapt to global markets so they can compete with Canadian hog and cattle producers, although many of the projects also help China combat air pollution and soil erosion in rural areas. Some of the world's poorest countries have received only a fraction of the Canadian money provided to China including Haiti, Angola, Chad and Mozambique. Haiti, for example, received $20-million in the 2001-02 fiscal year while Angola, which is recovering from a vicious civil war, got just $7-million. New ODA figures for the 2002-03 fiscal year were to have been released on April 2, but have been delayed. Officials say there is likely little change in Canada's aid contribution to the world's most populous nation. Manitoba NDP MP Pat Martin said Canadian taxpayers should not be paying aid money to China with its fast-growing economy that is "sucking jobs" and growth from North America. "Most Canadians would be pretty shocked to learn that we are pumping our increasingly scarce aid development dollars into anybody but the most needy and least-developed nations in the world and China ain't one of them," Mr. Martin said in an interview yesterday. "China is taking North American jobs, so why it is the main target of development aid is ridiculous. Within a few years, everything in the world will be made in China and the rest of us will be wondering where to work." Stockwell Day, the Conservative Foreign Affairs critic, also said it is unacceptable for China to be receiving Canadian foreign aid when it is the second-largest economy after the United States. "We would be very upset if they get any more money," Mr. Day said. "They are launching into outer space. They have a very vibrant economy. We should not be giving them CIDA funding and we should continue to press them to promote individual freedoms -- freedom of speech, religion and freedom of enterprise." But Andrew Graham, director of communications for International Co-operation Minister Aileen Carroll, said Canada is committed to providing aid to China because 20% of the world's poor live in China. "There are still a lot of poor people in China despite rapid growth," he said. "There are 240 million poor people in China and large parts of rural China are very, very poor." China's economy is growing at roughly 8% a year, easily outperforming G7 countries. Most economists think it could overtake the United States as the world's largest economy by mid-century. China also maintains the world's largest armed force -- of nearly three million troops -- and is spending billions to bring its military up to world-class standards. After the successful space flight by Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei last October, China has set its sights on the moon and Mars -- with plans for an unmanned lunar satellite by 2007. China does better than many other less fortunate nations when it comes to specific Canadian aid programs to fight hunger, malnutrition and disease. Canada contributed $1.7-million to fight hunger and disease in China but gave only $600,000 to Rwanda and a mere $20,000 to war-ravaged Mozambique.
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