OTTAWA, Jan 8: Canada’s Trade Minister David Emerson said on Tuesday he is ready to go to the World Trade Organisation to try to force China to allow its citizens to visit his country, if the issue is not resolved soon.

In a teleconference from Beijing, he accused Chinese officials of unfair discrimination in refusing to designate Canada an approved tourism destination, while granting more than 130 other countries the special status.

After three years of fruitless negotiations, he said, “we really have got to the point where we have to move it along in a meaningful way in a relatively short time frame or we will have no choice but to explore the WTO option.”

The status quo “could do economic damage to Canada,” he added, explaining that most foreign trips to the United States, which has been christened a favourable vacation spot by Beijing, include a stopover in Canada.—AFP