Push for Meng’s release remains

▶ ‘China prepared to respond to Canada on extradition’

As Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou’s case approaches a critical point, China has continued to push for her unconditional release and is ready with possible responses to Canada if the latter fails to correct its mistakes, Chinese experts said.

Canada is seeking help from its alliance to pressure China on the case and the detention of two Canadians.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called US President Donald Trump on Monday, with the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office saying the two leaders discussed the highprofile US extradition request, though Meng was not named, and agreed on respecting the independence of judges and the rule of law, the CBC reported on Tuesday.

Meng, who Canada arrested following a US request on December 1, was released on bail on December 11. The US has 60 days from the arrest date to make a full extradition, with the deadline being the end of this month. Meng is scheduled to reappear in court on February 6.

In the phone call, Trudeau also thanked Trump for the “strong statements of support” by the US in response to the “arbitrary detention” of two Canadians in China. “The two leaders agreed to continue to seek their release,” according to the CBC report.

But, apparently, Canada has miscalculated in its quest to gain international support.

Bloomberg reported that Trudeau also spoke this week to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the issue, but Japan didn’t express concern over the detentions or demand that the Canadians be released.

“Canada begs everywhere for international pressure on China in Meng’s case and also on the release of two Canadians to gain a better position in negotiations with China, but it would only find itself in a failed situation,” Song Guoyou, director of Fudan University’s Center for Economic Diplomacy, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Song said that Japan did not back it, it’s more impossible that other countries support Canada.

“The desperate Canada dares not challenge China directly as China has stood firm on Meng’s case and also has plenty of cards against Canada if it insists on extraditing Meng,” Song said.

Canada seems to be isolated on Meng’s case, as trade talks between China and the US, which Trump had said he may intervene in Meng’s case to help close the trade deal, is likely to end this week.

The positive sign in trade talks has created a favorable environment for resolving Meng’s case, Diao Daming, a US studies expert and an associate professor at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Daniel W. Levy, a principal in the New York office of Mckool Smith and a former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told the Global Times that it is unlikely that the US will not seek extradition in Meng’s case, but Meng can challenge extradition in Canada under Canadian law.

If the extradition materializes, China-Canada relations would suffer; and that China has also prepared a response for this situation, such as travel restrictions to Canada and Canadian imports, according to experts.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to US President Donald Trump over the phone on Monday. The two leaders reportedly discussed the US extradition request and “reaffirmed the importance of respecting judicial independence and the rule of law.” Although not mentioned by name, the extradition request refers to the case of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer (CFO) of Huawei Technologies.

Justice William Ehrcke, who granted bail to Meng, said during a three-day hearing in December that if no extradition request was received by January 8, 2019, Meng must be freed. But what’s ridiculous is that the US government is still partially shut down and the US Department of Justice is affected as well. Considering that Trump once said the shutdown will last “as long as it takes” to get his border wall funding, Meng’s case may be delayed some time.

The two leaders claimed to respect “judicial independence and the rule of law,” but is that the way a country under the rule of law behaves? The US and Canada kept proclaiming that judicial authorities must fulfill their duties under the US-Canada extradition treaty. Does that mean they can disregard international law? Canada has been emphasizing its so-called judicial independence, but why did it forget such an obvious principle when faced by Washington’s unreasonable requests?

Meng’s bail does not console Chinese. Canada should correct its mistakes and immediately release Meng. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said during a regular press conference on December 24, “At the behest of the US side, it illegally detained the senior manager of the Chinese company who has violated no Canadian laws as the Canadian side itself has acknowledged. This action, which is far from legal, legitimate and reasonable, is what truly merits the name of arbitrary detention.”

Trump said that he would intervene in Meng’s case if it would help secure a trade deal with Beijing. Obviously he believes it is not simply a judicial case, but a bargaining chip to deal with Huawei and China. Meng’s case has been political from the beginning, and Washington is using its power to lay political siege on China’s technology sector. Without solid evidence, Washington insists that Huawei is threatening other Western countries’ national security. This smacks of double standards. Longarm US jurisdiction has no legal basis and Canada’s arbitrary detention is ignoring the obligation of protecting Chinese nationals’ legal rights and interests.

Canada and the US must release Meng Wanzhou immediately. This is their only choice. The US government shutdown shouldn’t be an excuse for delaying the case, and China’s relations with Canada and the US shouldn’t be influenced by Washington’s chaotic domestic affairs. No matter how much the US seeks support from other Western countries, such an arbitrary detention is unjustified.

Time is ticking away. Canada must choose. If a Chinese high-tech company’s CFO eventually becomes the victim of an unfair political siege, the US and Canada should be ashamed, and also be fully prepared for China’s further retaliation.