To the School of Economics and Management of Qinghua University

Qinghua is one of the finest universities in China. With a long history as a training ground for national leadership. As I look out at you today it is clear that this great tradition is in full vigour. You will play a key role in guiding the China of the new millennium. In building a China that is essential to making the world we all want - for our children and for their children.

And it is about that broader world that I want to speak to you today.

We are experiencing a unique and exciting moment in human history. For the first time we have the potential - together - to build peace and meet the basic needs of people in every corner of the globe. Think about that for a moment. To have come that far in the long march of civilization. Beginning a new century with the potential to defeat the two greatest enemies of human progress - war and poverty. To have at our disposal 21st century tools to build on those foundations. And make societies that reflect our hopes and aspirations, individually and collectively.

It has often been said that Asian and Western nations are separated by a divide of values that cannot be bridged. With a deep attachment to collective interests and stability on one side. And an equally abiding attachment to individual rights on the other. And never the twain shall meet.

I do not accept that.

It does not do justice to the diversity of Asian values. Nor is it an honest representation of the balance between individual rights and the needs of society that you find in Canada - and throughout the Western world. More troubling in my view, it paints a picture of future East-West relations that is rife with cultural conflicts that cannot be avoided.

Some say that the right to eat is more important than the right to speak. That collective needs must always have priority over individual rights. This is no more true than the converse.

Water and sunlight are both essential for a garden to thrive. One is not more important than the other. You need the right balance of each. The same is true of building a strong society.

We are very proud of the balance we have achieved in Canada. Our society is built on guarantees of basic human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of worship, freedom from discrimination and the presumption of innocence. I am proud of the role I personally played, when I was Minister of Justice, in helping entrench a Charter of Rights and Freedoms in our constitution.

But we also know that the interests of society as a whole must also be promoted. That is why our constitution and our laws protect and promote the rights of minorities. That is why the principle of affirmative action is protected in our Charter of Rights. That is why we are proud of our social safety net, which ensures access to education, health care and dignity in old age.

The way we balance those rights can be debated. We don't pretend to have found perfection. Or to have all the answers. We recognize that extreme individualism - ignoring the greater needs of society - can make for an unstable, even chaotic, society. A society incapable of achieving any of the common goals that make society desirable in the first place. Goals like security, safety and mutual support.

But we also recognize that human progress requires the vibrancy, creativity and imagination that can only come from individuals exercising all the freedom necessary to achieve their dreams, ambitions and potential. This cannot occur when a society focusses only on satisfying collective needs. This is what I mean when I say that a garden needs both water and sunlight.

I believe that this is not about Western values or Eastern values. It is about universal values. It is about the kind of world in which all our people want to live in the coming century.

We in Canada have much to learn from China, with her rich history. Some five thousand years of culture and science. China has given the West much: paper, hydro-power, excellence in civil administration, literature, art and culture. But over the centuries we have not always kept our minds and borders open to Chinese influences. Today, we know that no country has a monopoly on progress. And we are learning again from China. Studying her traditional medicines. Importing her breakthroughs in optical technology.

China in return is adapting the experiences and insights of others to meet her own unique and complex challenges. You are, for example, building universal legal ideas like the presumption of innocence and the right to legal counsel into your traditional legal philosophy. This, we applaud.

But I would be less than frank if I did not say directly to you that many Canadians are disturbed when we hear reports from your country of restrictions on the right to free expression of different political views. And particularly when we hear of people being harassed and imprisoned for expressing political views different from the government. When Canadians hear of such things the progress that China is making on so many political and social fronts is often forgotten.

And indeed progress is being made. Progress which we applaud.

We were very pleased that China has signed the U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Enshrining the freedoms of speech and assembly and participation in public affairs and elections. This follows her signing last year of the U.N. Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights.

We urge China to place a high priority on ratifying and implementing these covenants.

And we applaud other efforts to bring about real change in your legal culture. Within the last month alone experts from around the world have come to China to share experiences in the prevention of financial fraud and to hold special training programs for senior judges. Canada is very pleased to have helped support these initiatives. We are also pleased to be working with you to establish legal aid programs. That gives abstract legal rights practical meaning to the poor.

It is also interesting to see the growing importance in Chinese life of non-governmental organizations. Indeed, tomorrow in Lanzhou I will be celebrating the first major project where NGOs from China and Canada are joining both governments in a shared effort at poverty alleviation.

And we are watching with interest, and helping when we can, as NGOs assist the Chinese people in responding to a variety of pressing collective needs. From environmental protection to unemployment.

As I said earlier, Canada and China are travelling a common path to the future. With our common destination being a civil society. And you at Qinghua have the tools already in hand to help make it happen. Arm in arm with colleagues and friends from all over the world.

In my view, technology - and the information highway - are transforming the world today. And as they are doing this, they are also bringing a new immediacy to Canada-China relations.

Qinghua is the leading institute of technology in China. With a well earned international reputation for doing cutting edge engineering and science. Now, researchers at Qinghua and the University of Toronto are together opening new frontiers of biotechnology. Researchers in Shanghai, Lanzhou and the Université de Montréal are finding solutions to the challenges of urban transportation. And researchers at Beijing University and the University of Ottawa are looking into the experiences of different countries in integrating international human rights commitments into domestic law.

Thanks to the possibilities offered by the Internet, it can now truly be said that science never sleeps. Right here at Qinghua, our Nortel Networks today opened a research lab that joins its global research network. A network that permits an around the clock - around the world - research effort.

In this way - and in so many others - the world is getting smaller all the time.

Television brought pictures of the devastating Yangtse floods into the living rooms of Canadians this past summer. Bringing an outpouring of sympathy and support. Encouraging us as a government to add our own modest contribution to the heroic efforts of the Chinese people.

We are beginning to see what that great Canadian - Marshall McLuhan - meant by "the global village." The question for all of us. Where will it lead? Will the 21st century find us living in a world of uniformity? One culture? I don't think so. Will we live in world where cultural clashes are the rule? I don't buy that either.

A garden with only one kind of flower in it is not as beautiful to behold as a one blessed with many sizes, colours and varieties. A world of infinite variety is what we should be working to build together. A world where every flower is nourished and encouraged to grow as strong and beautiful as it can be. And where the unique qualities of each are complemented in a harmonious whole.

You - as the leaders of tomorrow - will be entrusted with planting and nurturing that garden. So will your counterparts in Canada and around the world. But your ability to make the most of your choices and potential will depend on the wisdom of us - the leaders of today.

The friendship between Canada and China is a long one. That has gone from strength to strength. Built on mutual respect, understanding and openness. Built on wisdom!

That spirit has brought us together time and again in this century. And as I reflect on what I have seen at Qinghua, I have no doubt that it will bring us even closer in the next century.