STILL ADMIRE CHINA, MR. PM?

Nation’s treatment of Canadian captives is nothing like that of Huawei executive Meng

One has to wonder how much Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admires “the basic dictatorship” of China now.

Trudeau, who has unabashedly expressed admiration for brutal dictators and their governments, is getting a crash course on how dictatorships rarely — if ever — play fair.

Two Canadian citizens were taken hostage by China’s regime on Dec. 10 — ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor — as a retaliatory measure for Canada arresting Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou for extradition at the request of the United States.

I agree with former Liberal foreign minister John Manley, who told the CBC that when it came to arresting Meng, “it was a good opportunity for a little bit of creative incompetence on the part of Canadian authorities, and somehow just miss her.”

The United States wanted Meng arrested for allegedly misleading U.S. banks in a bid to get around American sanctions on Iran. Why this should be of any concern to Canada — extradition treaty or not — is baffling. Heck, Trudeau happily overlooks the crimes of dual-citizen Canadians returning to Canada after fighting with ISIS against our allies, but we arrest a Chinese CFO at the request of the U.S. for skirting some rules to do business in yet another foreign country?

As Manley pointed out, the Liberal government “botched” this the moment they told Trudeau about plans to detain Meng two days prior to her Dec. 1 arrest.

“The trouble with the prime minister having been informed,” said Manley, “and I don’t think he should have been — is that to the Chinese that means this was political.”

It was an abuse of process even as our argument is that we follow the rule of law.

The PM and his officials should have foreseen the implications for innocent Canadians in China and weighed it against the seemingly minor offence allegedly committed by a very prominent Chinese citizen. After all, such retaliation has happened before.

In the summer of 2014, Canada arrested Chinese businessman Su Bin, at the request of the U.S. on espionage charges. In retaliation, China seized Christian aid workers Kevin and Julia Garratt six weeks later. Julia was jailed for six months and Kevin for two years. What has happened to Kovrig and Spavor was totally foreseeable.

This is not to say Chinese citizens should never be arrested in Canada for extradition. But does anyone really believe Meng is a criminal? Is this what we have extradition for, to help the U.S. enforce its foreign policy against Iran?

If the PM thought that talking about Canada’s respect for the rule of law was working, Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador in Canada, disabused us all of that belief. On Wednesday, a scathing op-ed by Lu was published in the Hill Times accusing Canada of “white supremacy.” Clearly, Lu has been paying close attention to the Liberals’ playbook — accuse your opponents of being racists!

“The reason why some people are used to arrogantly adopting double standards is due to western egotism and white supremacy,” wrote Lu, who started his ambassadorship in Canada last February. He’s a fast learner, isn’t he?

Lu’s missive is a textbook example of utter ignorance or of complete sophistry.

“Without violating any Canadian law, Meng was arrested last month and put in handcuffs just as she was changing planes at the Vancouver International Airport,” wrote Lu. “It seems that, to some people, only Canadian citizens shall be treated in a humanitarian manner and their freedom deemed valuable, while Chinese people do not deserve that.”

It’s a galling statement. Because Canada has the rule of law, Meng immediately had access to legal representation, was allowed to see her family, was told why she was arrested, she was before the courts in one week, granted bail in 10 days, is living in one of her multimillion-dollar Point Grey Vancouver homes and is allowed to travel around Richmond, Vancouver and the north shore.

In contrast, Kovrig and Spavor were essentially kidnapped by the state. Their whereabouts were unknown for many days. Neither has been allowed to talk to family even by phone. They have not been formally charged, they have no right to counsel, they have not seen the inside of a courtroom and they have had very limited consular visits. On Thursday, Kovrig had his second consular visit in one month. Spavor has only had one.

What might their accommodations and treatment be like? The Garratts’ experience is telling. Both were kept in isolation (which is reserved for the most violent criminals in Canada and is considered cruel and unusual punishment), in cells with harsh lights that are never turned off (which is considered a form of torture) and they were interrogated for six hours every day by a team of three men, who sometimes threatened them with execution.

For the ambassador to equate what has happened to Meng with how Kovrig and Spavor are being treated by China is like comparing

Dictatorships can get a lot done, but there’s a reason people are desperate to leave them.

Beijing ’s air to Banff ’s.

Many Canadians will recall that in November 2013, during a “ladies’ night” fundraiser in Toronto, Trudeau was asked which country’s administration, besides Canada’s, he most admired.

“There’s a level of admiration I actually have for China because their basic dictatorship is allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say, ‘We need to go green ... we need to start investing in solar.’”

In 2016, Trudeau praised Cuban dictator Fidel Castro upon his death as a “remarkable leader” who “served his people for almost half a century.” Try explaining that to the families of tens of thousands of people arbitrarily arrested or murdered by the state in Cuba at the whim of Castro.

What Lu and all other Chinese citizens need to understand is that even if our government wanted to treat Meng in the disgraceful, unconscionable way China is treating our citizens, it could never happen precisely because of our rule of law.

Basic dictatorships can do what they want and get a lot done quickly, but there’s a reason their people are desperate to leave them.

Here’s hoping Trudeau has finally learned this costly lesson.