OTTAWA—It was business as usual Friday at the prime minister’s Langevin Block office, where Stephen Harper smiled and chatted with the Chinese ambassador to Canada before confirming plans for his third official visit to China next week.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to build on our economic relationship and also our friendship,” Harper told Luo Zhaohui.

However, less than a block from the red brick building, Wang Bingwu of Toronto stood outside, holding a simple white placard that read, in all-caps lettering: “PM Mr. Harper, please help to free my brother.”

Dr. Wang Bingzhang, considered by many the founder of the overseas pro-democracy movement in China, has been in a Beijing prison since 2002, serving a life sentence for trying to foster democracy in China from abroad.

Wang, who studied in Canada and received his doctorate in pathology from Montreal’s McGill University, was abducted by Chinese agents while on a trip to Vietnam. He was convicted in a secret trial that the organization, Amnesty International, says did not meet international standards for a fair trial.

Since then, Wang’s relatives in Canada have made it their business to campaign for his release. But so far, they have been unsuccessful, amid growing worry that the 66-year-old’s health is in steady decline.

“I’m here to ask our prime minister, Mr. Harper, to promise our family to bring up the issue of my brother’s case when he goes to China early in November,” Wang said. “I’m here to get his help, that’s why I’m here.”

Harper made no mention of human rights in a press release that announced his trip, nor did he speak to any human rights issue during the four minutes that photographers spent in his office with the Chinese ambassador.

That’s not unusual. Most analysts say that while it is important for Western leaders to raise human rights issues with Chinese leaders, doing so in a way that allows for some saving of face might actually bring long-term results — perhaps the freeing of prisoners.

Read more about: