US, Canada promise due process for Huawei exec
WASHINGTON: The United States and Canada promised a fair judicial process for a Chinese executive arrested in Vancouver on a US request, as they appealed to Beijing to free two Canadians held in apparent retaliation.
Foreign ministers and defence chiefs of the neighbours met in the US capital as Canada increasingly looks like collateral damage in a simmering US-China trade war, with Beijing at the same time working to ease trade tensions with Washington.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said authorities were acting ‘scrupulously’ in the detention of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of telecom behemoth Huawei whom Washington wants extradited for allegedly violating US sanctions on Iran.
“We all agree that the most important thing we can do is uphold the rule of law, ensure that Ms Meng’s right to due process is respected and that the current judicial process in Canada remains apolitical,” she told a joint news conference.
Freeland repeatedly said that Canada ‘is a rule-of-law country’ that responded properly to an extradition request.
“In Canada, there has been to this point no political interference in this issue at all,” she said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was also “respecting the rule of law each step along the way” as it seeks Meng.
China, however, has said that Canada and the United States overstepped their authority and that Meng, who was arrested while changing planes in Vancouver, broke no laws.
Canada’s fears of repercussions have turned out to be wellfounded, as China has since detained two Canadians on suspicion of ‘harm to national security’ – a phrase often used by Beijing when alleging espionage.
The Canadians are Michael Spavor, a China-based consultant who arranges visits for foreigners – including NBA star Dennis Rodman – to North Korea, and Michael Kovrig, a Mandarinspeaking former Canadian diplomat who works for the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.
Canada’s foreign ministry said its ambassador to Beijing, John McCallum, was granted consular access to Kovrig and is pressing for access to Spavor.
Speaking to The Canadian Press, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau predicted that access would take place ‘shortly.’
“We are being absolutely clear on standing up for our citizens who have been detained, trying to figure out why, trying to work with China to demonstrate that this not acceptable,” he told Citytv in Toronto.
ICG stressed that “at no point has there been any hint of any wrongdoing” by Kovrig.
“Far from being secretive, Michael’s work was open for all to see, Chinese officials first and foremost,” ICG president and CEO Robert Malley said in a statement, referring to the detainee’s past and present roles.
“The real danger to China comes from Michael’s arbitrary arrest and detention for these will have a chilling effect on people wanting to visit and engage with the country.” — AFP