China summons Canadian ambassador
China warns Canada it could face ‘grave consequences’ if it doesn’t release Huawei executive arrested at Vancouver airport.
China has warned Canada that it could face “grave consequences” if it doesn’t release Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei who was arrested last week as she transited through Vancouver airport at the request of the US Justice Department.
The message was delivered to Canada’s Ambassador to China, John McCallum, who was called in for a carpeting by senior Chinese Foreign Affairs officials on the weekend, and was told that China regarded her arrest as a “severe violation” of her rights.
China’s deputy foreign minister, Le Yucheng, said the arrest of Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei and the daughter of the company’s founder, on suspicion of violating US trade sanctions with Iran, seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese citizen.
In a statement released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he described the arrest of the 46-year-old’s arrest as unlawful and “unconscionable and vile.”
China’s fury over the arrest was also made clear in an editorial in the official Xinhua news agency on the weekend which described Canada’s action as “lawless, unreasonable and callous” which it said had caused “serious damage” to its relations with China.
The editorial also said Canada faced “serious consequences” unless it released Meng, expressing anger that Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew of her impending arrest ahead of time and did not inform China.
The arrest was made a week ago almost at the same time as President Xi was dining with US President Trump in Argentina on the side of the G20 meeting where the two agreed on a 90 day truce on their trade war.
But the deal involved an agreement on the Chinese side to significantly increased its purchases of US goods to help redress the trade imbalance between the US and China as well as discussions on measures to increase protection of intellectual property and tighten cyber security controls.
But the arrest of Meng, whose application for bail continues in a Vancouver court on Monday, has eroded the goodwill of the meeting and raised new clouds over US-China relations.
Meng was detained on December 1 at the request of the US Department of Justice which has been investigating Huawei for potential violation of US sanctions in trading with Iran.
China is angry at what it sees as the US continuing to extend the reach of its law well beyond its borders.
“The US has always put its domestic law above the international one,” Xinhua, said in its opinion piece on the arrest.
“It’s ‘long arm jurisdiction’ has often drawn criticism from the international community’.
“Yet despite all of this, Canada still chose to ignore international rules and obey the United States, paying the bill for America’s bullying actions,” it said.
“A notion Canada keeps boasting of is ‘human rights’, but in this case, one can barely claim Meng’s right has been respected.
“Arresting a Chinese citizen during her change of flight without giving any concrete reason is severely violating her legitimate rights and interests.”
Xinhua said that Canada had treated Meng as a “dangerous criminal” despite the fact that she had not been on trial or been the subject of any conviction.
“It is a huge humiliation and disrespect for Meng,” it said.
Xinhua said Meng had severe health issues including high blood pressure, sleeping disorders and was still in recovery from neck surgery she had in May.
“Yet she could not get the necessary humanitarian accommodation from Canada,” it said.
“Canada’s misdeeds, which are lawless, unreasonable and callous, have caused serious damage to its relations with China.
“Ottawa had advance notice of the arrest but (Trudeau) chose not to keep the Chinese side informed,” it said.
Xinhua said Canada had “connived” to abet “America’s unilateral hegemonic move and hurt the Chinese people’s feelings”.
“We here give a piece of advice that Canada should not be wrong headed any longer but immediately release the senior executive and protect her legitimate rights and interests,
“Otherwise there will be serious consequences and Canada is to take all responsibility.”
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