U.S. criticizes China for Canadian arrests
But Trudeau government takes measured approach, expressing deep concern
A senior official of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has gone further than the Canadian government in publicly criticizing China’s arrest of two Canadian men and calling for their release.
At a Washington news conference after meeting with Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chyrstia Freeland, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China’s arrest of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and of Canadian businessman Michael Spavor was “unlawful” and suggested the U.S. would “work” toward their release.
“The unlawful detention of two Canadian citizens is unacceptable; they ought to be returned,” Pompeo said.
“The United States has stood for that, whether they are our citizens or citizens of other countries. We ask all nations of the world to treat other citizens properly,” said Pompeo. “And the detention of these two Canadian citizens in China ought to end.”
To date, the Canadian government has not formally protested China’s arrest of the men as “unlawful,” nor demanded their immediate release or return to Canada. It has taken a publicly measured approach, while stressing it is “deeply concerned” about their well-being.
Earlier Friday, John McCallum, Trudeau’s ambassador to China, was granted consular ac- cess to one of the men, Kovrig, in Beijing, four days after his arrest, according to a news release by Freeland’s department.
Canadian diplomats will be granted access “shortly” to the second Canadian (Spavor) detained in China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday, as he predicted consequences for Canada’s economy from the U.S.-China trade war.
“We seek consular access, which we’ve gotten already in one of the cases, and are going to have in the second case shortly,” Trudeau told The Canadian Press Friday. “We’re hopeful that it’ll happen soon.”
Freeland provided no details about Kovrig’s condition, and insisted the government’s priority is still to determine the basis for their detention and to gain consular access to Spavor. Citing the detainees’ privacy, Freeland and her department refused to say more.
Neither Canada nor China has publicly linked China’s arrest of the Canadians on Monday to Canada’s arrest on Dec. 1 of one of China’s corporate elite — Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou — at the request of the United States. But many observers believe the moves were a classic tit-for-tat retaliation against Canada for acting at the Americans’ behest.
The Americans initiated extradition proceedings against Meng in the fall, saying the Huawei chief financial officer and deputy chairperson is wanted on fraud charges, centred on an alleged plan to bypass Iran sanctions.
The Chinese government is outraged over her “wrongful detention” and had threatened Canada with “grave consequences” before moving in to seize the Canadians in separate Chinese cities on Monday.
In an interview aired on Citytv, Trudeau did finally appear to tie the cases together.
Asked about strained relations between China and Canada, Trudeau called the men’s detention “unacceptable.”
“China is reacting to the arrest of one of their citizens, but we are being absolutely clear on standing up for our citizens who’ve been detained, trying to figure out why, trying to work with China to demonstrate this is not acceptable,” he said.
The prime minister also took a more direct shot at both China and U.S. President Donald Trump, who suggested Meng might be released if he could get a better security or trade deal with China. He said Canada will follow the rule of law and due process.
“Other countries can politicize their judicial system or make arbitrary actions,” Trudeau told Citytv. “We are going to demonstrate that the best way not just to protect our citizens, but to support the jobs, the future, the stability that Canadians expect is by standing up for our values in a clear unequivocal way that protects our interests.”
Trudeau said he was, nevertheless, worried about Canada’s relations with China and with the U.S. and the overall impact of global tensions.
“This is one of the situations you get in when the two largest economies in the world, China and the United States, start picking a fight with each other. The escalating trade war between them is going to have all sorts of unintended consequences on Canada, and potentially on the entire global economy. So we’re very worried about that,” he said.
Freeland, on the other hand, hewed to the line that China had not yet been explicit about its reasons for arresting Kovrig and Spavor, saying they are “different issues.”
“From Canada’s perspective these kinds of issues ought never to be confused with one another,” said Freeland. “In the detention of Ms. Meng, Canada was acting scrupulously in line with our treaty commitments and in line with the rule of law.” Pompeo was asked whether the U.S. actions have led to Canada and two Canadians becoming collateral damage in a U.S. trade war with China, especially after inflammatory remarks by Trump this week. Pompeo said, “I don’t see it that way.”
He said the U.S. justice process is unfolding, adding the U.S. has “lots of complicated issues with China” and would respect the rule of law “each step along the way. We’ll do that here as well.”
Asked if the U.S. would actively work to help Canada secure the Canadians’ release, Pompeo said: “We always work on it and we’ll do it for this case as well.”
Freeland thanked Pompeo for the statement.
She nevertheless delivered a rebuke of Trump, stressing several times the extradition process should not be “politicized.”
“It is very important for Canada that extradition agreements are not used for political purposes. Canada does not do it that way and I believe that it is obvious that democratic countries such as our partner the U.S. do the same,” she said.
Roland Paris, a professor at the University of Ottawa and a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, said it’s possible the Liberal government’s measured tone is because “they are still trying to leave space for China to find a way to release the two Canadians without losing face.”