Woman asks feds to help her parents get out of China
Owners of Grizzli Winery accused of under-reporting the value of the wine they export to China
The daughter of West Kelowna winery owners on trial for smuggling in China is pleading for Canadian federal officials to help free her parents.
Amy Chang, 23, says she hopes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can press China for the release of John Chang and Lan-Fred (Allison) Lu, who have been jailed 14 months and are now on trial behind closed doors in a Shanghai courtroom.
“This should never have happened,” Chang said Wednesday as she prepared to meet separately in Ottawa with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair to press her case.
“There should not have been a trial; there shouldn’t even be a conviction.”
Chang’s parents, who own Grizzli Winery in West Kelowna as well as a wineries in Richmond and Ontario, are accused by Chinese officials of underreporting the value of the wine they export to China.
They were arrested in March 2016 while visiting their business suppliers and agents in Shanghai.
Chang, who was in a different Chinese province and immediately fled to Taiwan when she heard of her parents being arrested, said she had yet to hear about the outcome of their trial.
But she said there is no justifiable reason why the Chinese government has criminalized a commercial dispute, and she’s hoping the prime minister can sway Chinese authorities to drop the case against them.
“If this is an issue regarding undervaluation, then they can let me know and we can deal with this diplomatically,” said Chang, who, along with employees, is now operating her family’s business. “There’s no need to have Canadian citizens detained overseas and imprisoned.”
The Changs started developing Grizzli Winery in West Kelowna, along the municipality’s Wine Route (Boucherie Road) in 2015. It opened last summer, after Chang’s parents had been detained in Shanghai.
Trudeau, who has been pushing for closer trading ties with China, was unavailable to meet Wednesday with Chang, having just returned from Europe. Still, Chang said she hoped for a meeting with him later in the week.
A Global Affairs spokeswoman said the department is closely following the case.
“We have raised our concerns at a high level with Chinese authorities,” Jocelyn Sweet said in an email. “Canadian officials are in contact with the relevant Chinese authorities, and are providing consular assistance to Mr. Chang, Ms. Lu and their family.”
Chang said that assistance has amounted to one visit every three months from Canadian consular officials in China.
The department also offered Chang a meeting with Omar Alghabra, the parliamentary secretary to Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Lulu Island Winery in Richmond has appealed to the government, arguing that the detention is a violation of China’s international trade obligations under the World Trade Organization’s valuation agreement, and therefore a matter of Canadian national interest.
The winery has also called on Canada’s international trade and justice ministers to demand their Chinese counterparts secure permission for Chang and his wife to return to Canada while the customs dispute is resolved.
Chang said she has only been able to communicate with her father through a lawyer in Shanghai. He has been incarcerated with no direct access to his family, and both his physical and mental health have been deteriorating since his arrest, she said.
Her mother, Lu, was also initially held in custody but was released in January on the condition she not leave China. Lu’s Canadian passport was confiscated and she must report regularly to Chinese authorities.
In an emailed response to questions, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said it had learned through the media that the case was “undergoing judicial process” and that “the Chinese court will fairly handle the case in accordance with the law.”