Mixed signals on Meng’s case sent
China urges Canada to correct own mistake from the beginning
Complicated signals from senior Canadian officials recently on the case of Huawei chief financial executive Meng Wanzhou have created confusion in China about Canada’s position, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry maintained a firm position and continued to urge Canada to correct the mistake it made from the very beginning.
Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum apologized on Thursday for offering his opinion on how a senior executive of a Chinese telecommunications company could avoid extradition to the US, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported.
The newspaper report said McCallum’s opinion is “a view welcomed in Beijing and denounced in Canada.”
However, the Chinese government gave a firm response to McCallum’s comments. After McCallum’s apology, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at Friday’s routine press conference, “No matter
what the Canadian side said, China’s stance on the case remains clear.”
Canada has made a serious mistake from the very beginning, and the case is not a normal judicial issue but a serious political incident, and “We hope that the Canadian side can understand the nature of the case clearly instead of risking endangering itself for another’s gain,” Hua said.
The ambassador’s remarks to Chinese-language journalists in Canada on Tuesday said that Meng has “quite good arguments on her side.”
“One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there’s an extraterritorial aspect to her case; and three, there’s the issue of Iran sanctions in her case, and Canada did not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,” he told the press conference in Canada.
McCallum’s remarks drew calls for his resignation from opposition MPs. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not directly address the issue on Wednesday, and on Thursday rejected calls to replace McCallum, the Globe and Mail reported.
Chinese observers believe that the Canadian government is trying to find a way out by sending hints to Meng or China about how to get Meng released by a Canadian court if the US eventually sends the request of extradition.
But it is still unclear to what extent it could help because of the divergence within Canada, and to what extent Canada can get rid of US impact on its judicial independence remains an issue, observers noted.
Contradictory comments made by the Canadian ambassador reflect his ambivalence toward Meng’s case, Li Haidong, a professor at the Beijing-based China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday.
“Between political correctness and respecting the truth and the law, McCallum has surrendered” under US pressure and conservative forces in Canada by apologizing for his previous comments, Li said.
“There is divergence among Canadian authorities, with one side choosing to be ‘politically correct’ and the other preferring to stick to the facts, which has created chaos and put the country at a disadvantage,” Li said.
Obviously, the Canadian government found the price it paid for getting involved in the frictions between China and the US is beyond its expectations, said Pang Zhongying, a senior research fellow on international relations at the Pangoal Institution, a Beijing-based think tank.
McCallum’s remarks show that Canada desperately wants to get rid of the mess it had caused, and it realized it has been used by the US, but perhaps the measure is thoughtless, Pang told the Global Times on Friday.
Because the remarks at a press conference are open to everyone, even if the ambassador only invited Chinese-language media, conservative forces in Canada and the US also received the message, Pang noted. “That’s why the ambassador and the Trudeau administration are receiving pressure.”
To what extent the Canadian government and court can act independently of the US remains a question, and the US has yet to send its request for extradition and provide solid evidence that applies to the extradition treaty, Li said.