China accuses Canada of backstabbing

OTTAWA • Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye says Canada’s arrest of a Huawei Technologies executive was an act of “backstabbing” by a friend.

And Lu warns of “repercussions” if Canada bars the firm from its new 5G network for security reasons, as have three of its intelligence-sharing allies.

In a rare interview with Canadian journalists, Lu also told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to back off recruiting international support in Canada’s feud with China. He said it would be a bad idea for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland to use the upcoming World Economic Forum summit in Davos to press that case.

Lu said economic relations between the two counties can be repaired, but he defended the arrests of two Canadians in China and criticized Canada’s arrest of the telecommunications executive, saying Meng Wanzhou didn’t break any Canadian laws.

Canada detained her in Vancouver last Dec. 1, at the request of U.S. authorities who want her to face fraud charges. She is out on bail and faces extradition.

China detained Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, after Meng’s arrest on allegations of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security.” Western analysts believe their arrests are an attempt to pressure Canada to free Meng.

China also sentenced another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death on Monday in a sudden retrial of his drug-smuggling case.

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler, the founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, took China to task for characterizing Canada’s arrest of Meng as “vile, unconscionable and evil.”