Montreal (EON) - A simmering diplomatic row between Canada and China has been exacerbated Thursday after a Canadian human rights campaigner was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism charges in a Chinese provincial court.

The Canadian government summoned a Chinese diplomat to express dismay over the life sentence imposed on Huseyin Celil, a member of the Muslim ethnic Uighur community from the Xingjiang province in China and a Canadian citizen since 2005.

In parliament Thursday, Foreign Minister Peter Mackay said the government was “deeply disappointed with the verdict”- which besides the life in prison on separatism charges also included 10 years for a terrorism charge.

MacKay, who vowed to raise the issue with Chinese officials on a planned visit next week, said fears about hindering valuable business relationship will not keep his government from standing up to Beijing on human rights.

“We’re going to press that case and I certainly will be bringing this up when I’m in China next week,” said MacKay, who will meet with his counterpart during the visit.

“We don’t intend to let this case go,” he said, adding that the sentence appeared to contravene diplomatic agreements between the two countries, forcing Canada to reconsider a 1999 consular agreement.

Celil, 38, was arrested in March 2006 in Uzbekistan and extradited to China where his family says he was tortured. China claims Celil, who was born in China, was a “prominent member of East Turkestan terrorist organizations.”

Canadian consular officials have been denied access to him since his arrest and trial in the Xingjiang capital of Urumqi as China does not recognize Celil’s Canadian citizenship.

The father of four came to Canada in 2001 as a refugee after spending several years in a Chinese prison, accused of dissidence, and became a citizen in 2005.

China has never recognized Celil’s Canadian citizenship and have repeatedly admonished Canada for inquiring about the case, arguing that the issue is domestic and that Canada has overstepped its authority by attempting to intervene.

Chinese officials charge that Celil is “a key member of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement.” They have long accused militants in the Uighur community of using terrorism to attain an autonomous Islamic state in the resource-rich region, which borders several former Soviet republics.

“Chinese authorities have persistently refused to respond adequately to our concerns with respect to due process for this Canadian citizen,” MacKay said in a statement.

Amnesty International has issued several alerts over Celil’s status and treatment since his arrest last year.

The current row is one of several between Canada and China over the past year.

Last April, China issued a forceful denial that they were engaging in industrial espionage in Canada, responding to allegations by members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.

In September, China was offended when Canada presented the Dalai Lama with an honourary citizenship and by Harper’s criticism of their human rights record last November.