Chinese ambassador blasts Canada

Envoy warns Trudeau against following U.S. lead on Huawei ban

Beijing ’s envoy to Canada says Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was a “politically motivated” act in violation of international law norms, and is viewed as a “backstabbing” by a country China had considered its best Western friend.

In a rare news conference with Canadian and Chineselanguage reporters, Chinese Ambassador Lu Shaye blasted the Trudeau government for the “unprecedented” arrest of the executive of a multinational company who China says broke no law in Canada.

He denied China’s detentions of two Canadian men or the death penalty levied against another man are in retaliation, and warned Canada against deepening the current rift.

Speaking in Mandarin, Lu said through an embassy interpreter that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland should stop trying to “rally” other countries to its cause and accused them of engaging in “microphone diplomacy” that will fail to isolate China and make matters worse.

He said Freeland should avoid lobbying allies at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, saying if Canada is sincere, it should “think twice” about raising the consular issues there.

“The open war of words will only escalate tensions instead of easing tensions,” Lu said.

At the same time, China issued an even sharper warning to Trudeau’s government.

The ambassador said if Canada follows the U.S. and its “Five Eyes” security partners in banning Huawei from the development of 5G networks, the next generation of wireless technology, when there is “no evidence” to justify any security concerns, there will be “repercussions” for the bilateral relationship.

“That’s a threat,” Guy SaintJacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said in an interview.

So, too, is Lu’s warning that Canada should cease its campaign to rally international allies to protest China’s treatment of Canadian nationals abroad. Saint-Jacques said it shows the strategy the Trudeau government has pursued in response “is working.”

“It’s getting their attention. China is very concerned about their international image and reputation, and, right now, Canada’s rallying this support. ”

Some allies have stopped short of demanding the release of the two Canadian detainees, but Canada should continue its efforts, Saint-Jacques said.

Freeland, speaking in Sherbrooke at a cabinet retreat, vowed to do just that.

She said on Thursday Spain joined the growing chorus of those objecting to China’s actions, and publicly expressed concerns “about the detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor and about the use of the death penalty against Mr. Schellenberg.”

The United States, which is seeking Meng’s extradition, has joined that group.

However Beijing has not directed the same anger at Washington.

Asked why, one Chinese official at the embassy said “Meng is in Canada; she is not in the U.S.”

Freeland responded tersely to Lu’s threats; she said only that Huawei’s role in Canada’s telecommunications evolution is still under “serious consideration” by the government and its security agencies.

The minister agreed with one point the Chinese ambassador made: that the Meng case should be treated as separate from the ordeal facing the Canadians detained in China, and stressed that it is “not in any way a political judgment by the government of Canada. It is not in any way a statement about our relationship with China.”

Lu said Kovrig travelled on a regular passport on a business visa, and enjoys no residual diplomatic immunity

“According to the Vienna convention, activities that endanger national security are not duties carried out by a diplomat.”

Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former envoy to Beijing, said the ambassador’s interpretation is wrong.

“If a diplomat engages in anything that runs against national security, you expel them. This principle is inviolable.”

Asked whether China would release the two men if Meng was released as a gesture of goodwill, Lu said: “These two cases are not connected.”

Asked if Schellenberg faces imminent danger, Lu said only that he has the right to appeal the sentence.