Canada forces nations to sign declaration against ‘ arbitrary detention’: FM

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed Canada for being hypocritical and despicable by forcibly including some countries in signing the so- called declaration against “arbitrary detention,” calling it a forged statement and an act of fraud.

On February 15, Canada unveiled a declaration signed by foreign ministers from 58 countries targeting the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals, a practice Ottawa said China has deployed against Canadian citizens.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a briefing on Monday that it is hypocritical for Canada to rally some countries to issue the so- called declaration. It is even more despicable that Canada forcibly included countries into the group of signatories against their will, when they clearly indicated their disapproval of and nonparticipation.

Such fraud violated the professional ethics of diplomacy and breached basic norms governing international exchanges, and should be condemned, Wang said, noting that “Canada’s detention of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou is the typical case of arbitrary detention.”

“We understand that Canada is under pressure from the US. However, as a sovereign state, Canada arrested Meng on trumped- up grounds and held her for more than two years with her violating no Canadian law. The so- called declaration is more like a ‘ confession’ admitting the mistake Canada has made in the Meng case,” Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times previously.

Canada arranged for someone from Human Rights Watch to accuse China of the “arbitrary detention” of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor at the launch of the declaration, which is fact- distorting and ill- intentioned, the Chinese Embassy in Canada said on February 16.