Former Canadian PM hospitalized in Hong Kong

OTTAWA -- Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is receiving treatment for a kidney stone in Hong Kong after falling ill there Monday night, CTV reported Tuesday.

Chretien will return to Canada following the treatment to remove the kidney stone in Hong Kong, CTV quoted Chretien's spokesman Bruce Hartley as saying.

Chretien, 85, was scheduled to speak at the US-China Trade and Economic Relations Forum in Hong Kong on Tuesday, but he was taken to hospital shortly after landing in Hong Kong Monday night.

Chretien was prime minister from 1993 to 2003. Expanding trade with China was a theme in his time at office, and he continued working on business links between China and North America after he went back to private life, according to Canadian media reports.