Canadians deserve briefing from Ambassador on escalating tensions with China: Conservatives
Ottawa: The Hon. Erin O’toole, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, issued the following statement ahead of an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to discuss the state of Chinese-canadian relations:
“On Thursday, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs is meeting to request that the Canadian Ambassador to China, the Hon. John Mccallum, brief the Parliamentary Committee on January 18. Canadians deserve to know what the Ambassador and the Liberal government are doing to secure the release of the detained Canadians, especially with the growing concerns and increased rhetoric over this stateto-state dispute.
“Since the December 1st arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, two Canadian citizens have been the subject of retaliatory detentions by the Chinese government, while dozens of other Canadians have been detained on administrative grounds or had their visas questioned. Canadians are rightly concerned about family members in China and are frustrated with the Liberal government’s failure thus far to address escalating tensions.
“After a month of indecision, Prime Minister Trudeau has acknowledged that these detentions are ‘completely politically motivated’ but he has still not called the Chinese President to address this escalating diplomatic dispute. “Canada’s Conservatives have reconvened the Foreign Affairs Committee as part of our efforts to push Prime Minister Trudeau to personally intervene on behalf of Canadians detained in China and clearly outline what his government is doing to resolve the current dispute.”