GUANGZHOU, CHINA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau capped off his trip to China with a parting shot on the importance of the free press, praising the “essential role” of journalism that challenges politicians and informs a country’s citizens.

Trudeau made the remarks Thursday in response to a question about an editorial in China’s Global Times, an English-language tabloid that is sometimes seen as a mouthpiece for the country’s ruling Communist Party. Published Wednesday, the piece attacked the “superiority and narcissism” of the Canadian media for focusing on China’s “ideology” in the context of exploratory talks on launching trade negotiations.

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“You play an essential role, a challenge function, an information function, and it’s not easy at the best of times,” Trudeau said at a press conference on the sidelines of the Fortune Global Forum, an elite business summit taking place in the sprawling cityscape of southern China’s Pearl River Delta.

“It’s an essential role that you play in the success of a society. That is my perspective, that is a perspective shared by many, and it’s one that I’m very happy to repeat today.”

Trudeau’s praise came at the conclusion of a four-day visit to China that saw him meet with the country’s most powerful leaders in Beijing before travelling south to Guangzhou to pitch Canada as an investment destination for hundreds of business executives.

But while his trip has focused heavily on the still-unsuccessful push to launch trade negotiations with China, human rights campaigners in Canada have called on Trudeau to raise concerns about the authoritarian government’s limits on freedom of expression and other political liberties that are upheld in Western democracies.

Earlier this week in Beijing, Trudeau said that he is promoting human rights in China simply by holding press conferences in a country where the media and government are closely linked. “This is something I demonstrate all over the world,” he added.

The prime minister also said he raised human rights issues in discussions with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang this week. He said that he also pressed Xi on the cases of Canadian citizens who are imprisoned in China, including the case of John Chang, a wine seller from British Columbia who was jailed last year on allegations of smuggling. Chang’s wife, Allison Lu, has been barred from leaving the country.

The prime minister says pursuing free trade with China and preserving NAFTA are part of Canada’s mission to combat rising populism and nationalism. Justin Trudeau made the comments during his four-day state visit to China. (The Canadian Press)

Other Canadians jailed in China include Sun Qian, a practitioner of the outlawed Falun Gong religious movement who was arrested this year. And Huseyin Celil, a Uighur refugee and father of four who used to deliver pizzas in Hamilton, has been jailed since 2006 for alleged terrorist offences in China.

“I’ve ensured that consular cases of Canadians in difficulty overseas are followed much more closely by the Prime Minister’s Office than has been done in the past,” Trudeau said. “I am much more active in my exchanges with global leaders to address and seek to resolve consular cases.”

At the same time, Trudeau was careful to avoid any direct criticism of the Chinese government. His first stop on the current trip to China, for instance, was an event at the headquarters of Sina Weibo, a Chinese social media company. Under President Xi, China has underscored a policy of “internet sovereignty” where traffic is tightly controlled and foreign sites like Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter are banned in the country.

“As Canadians know, our responsibility as a government is to engage constructively and productively with countries around the world that have different ways of doing things,” Trudeau said when asked Thursday for his thoughts on China’s Internet clampdown.

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“At the same time, I’m always clear about standing up for Canadian values, and Canadian interests and things we stand for, and I do it in a respectful way. Obviously in Canada we have a different history and a different approach on a broad range of things, and we will continue to stand for the way we do things and work with people who do things differently,” he said.

Gloria Nafziger, a campaigner with Amnesty International, said she was “heartened” to hear reports that consular cases involved jailed Canadians in China were raised by Trudeau and others during the four-day trip to China. Even so, she called for assurances that any future trade agreement between China and Canada would not overshadow concerns about a lack of political rights in China.

“The wider human rights reality in China continues to be dismal, with crackdowns against human rights defenders, democracy activists, Tibetan and Uyghur minorities and practitioners of Falun Gong,” Nafziger said.

“We still have no clear indication from the government as to what steps will be taken to ensure human rights considerations are given concrete and meaningful attention in any expanding economic relationship between our two countries.”

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