Implying that the country will not succumb to hostage diplomacy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rebuffed a letter from a group including four former federal ministers, that asked him to have an extradition trial against a senior Huawei executive in Vancouver stopped so she could return to China in exchange for the release of two Canadians imprisoned there.
During his daily media briefing, Trudeau said the letter writers were “wrong in their approach”. Expanding on the issue, he said that if countries around the world, including China, believed that “by arbitrarily arresting random Canadians” they could influence Canada politically, that would leave a “lot more Canadians who travel around the world vulnerable to that kind of pressure.”
Trudeau’s rebuff came as 13 Canadian senators sought to have sanctions imposed upon Chinese officials involved in human rights violations targeting Muslim Uighurs, Tibetans and residents of Hong Kong.
Trudeau was referring to the ongoing trial of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese telecommunications company Huwaei and daughter of its founder. She is facing trial in Vancouver and could potentially be extradited to the US on charges related to committing fraud and bypass international sanctions against the Iranian regime. Days after she was detained in Vancouver in December 2018, two Canadians including a former diplomat, were arrested by Chinese authorities, who charged them with spying last week.
“We need to continue to be absolutely crystal clear that Canada has an independent judiciary and those processes will unfold independently of any political pressure, including by foreign governments,” Trudeau said, according to the outlet CBC. “We deplore what China did,” he added. The letter writers include three former foreign ministers and a former justice minister, among others. “I respect these distinguished Canadians who put forward that letter but I deeply disagree with them,” Trudeau said.
{{/usCountry}}“We need to continue to be absolutely crystal clear that Canada has an independent judiciary and those processes will unfold independently of any political pressure, including by foreign governments,” Trudeau said, according to the outlet CBC. “We deplore what China did,” he added. The letter writers include three former foreign ministers and a former justice minister, among others. “I respect these distinguished Canadians who put forward that letter but I deeply disagree with them,” Trudeau said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, in another letter to Trudeau, Canadian senators have asked him to respond to China’s “tyrannical behaviour” by imposing sanctions upon Chinese officials for “gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” according to CBC.
Those sanctions can be imposed under Canada’s Sergei Magnitsky Law, named after a Russian expert who was killed by authorities in Moscow over exposing fraud.