Trudeau defends the arrest of Huawei executive Meng
Prime Minister says the world must stand up to China
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Thursday and urged countries to stand up to Chinese bullying as he prepared for two potentially explosive international summits.
Canada’s relations with both China and the U.S. figured prominently during a questionand-answer session with Trudeau ahead of today’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting.
Both the prime minister and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, are set to attend. But, beforehand, Trudeau spoke to a virtual gathering of chief executives from APEC countries.
After he touted his government’s legislation on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions and called for more trade between Canada and Asia, Trudeau was asked whether he regretted that Canadian border authorities in Vancouver detained Meng in December 2018.
The Huawei executive was arrested, and is now facing extradition, because she is wanted in the U.S. on fraud charges. Her detention set off a steadily deepening diplomatic crisis with Beijing, which has arbitrarily detained two Canadians and imposed other retaliatory measures.
“Do I regret that Canada followed its laws? Do I regret that Canada lived up to a longstanding extradition treaty with our closest ally? Absolutely not,” Trudeau said. “Canada is a country of the rule of law. And obeying those laws can’t just be when it’s convenient or when it’s easy. If you’re a country of the rule of law, if you’re a country of values, you need to stick up for those. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The prime minister also criticized China for its “aggressive coercive diplomacy,” which includes the arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and accused it of “trying to use its weight to get its way,” before calling for countries to work together to counter China’s efforts.
“In the face of pressure and increasingly coercive moves by one of the world’s great powers, I think that really highlights at which point we need to be working together as allies, as neighbours, as friends, as countries,” he said.
“Very few countries could stand up on its own to a superpower, to a great power. But working together in alignment, we can make sure there is a recognition that the path that China is choosing to take right now is probably not going to be as effective — even for them — as they think it will.”
Trudeau’s words ahead of today’s APEC summit are unlikely to ease tensions between Canada and China, which Ottawa and its allies have also roundly criticized for cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong and over its treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority.
Further complicating matters is the fact China and 14 other countries this week signed what is being billed as the world’s largest free-trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which does not include the U.S. or Canada.
Yet the main fireworks during that summit as well as a G20 leaders’ meeting that is being hosted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday and Sunday are expected to come from China and the U.S., with Donald Trump set to make what are likely to be some of his final appearances as president.
Both summits are supposed to be focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly its economic impacts and what actions the international community should be taking to mitigate them now and recover afterward.