The random arrests plunged Canada-China relations into an unprecedented crisis.
Ottawa, Canada:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he hopes the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden will keep pressure on China to release two Canadians held for almost two years.
Beijing – in an act widely decried by Western capitals as retaliation – arrested former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on suspicion of espionage in December 2018, days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou on a US warrant.
At a press conference, Trudeau said his government had “worked very closely” with Donald Trump’s administration and other allies to pressure Beijing to release the pair.
“I am extremely confident that the new US administration will continue to be a good partner for Canada and other countries around the world as we seek to convey to China that the approach it is taking simply does not work. not (and) … the importance of returning the two Canadians who were arbitrarily detained for over 700 days, ”he said.
Trudeau also reiterated his criticism of what Ottawa called China’s “coercive diplomacy”, calling it “ineffective and of great concern to democratic nations around the world.”
The random arrests plunged Canada-China relations into an unprecedented crisis.
As Meng fights extradition to the United States, where she is wanted for fraud related to violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, Kovrig and Spavor have disappeared into Beijing’s opaque court system.
Ottawa and Beijing, meanwhile, have repeatedly accused the other of sparking the diplomatic row that scuttled preliminary free trade negotiations.
Trudeau was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their electoral victory, less than an hour after the US media announced it.
On Monday, the prime minister expressed confidence in the US electoral system while declining to comment on Trump’s refusal to concede defeat, saying he would continue to work with Trump on bilateral issues until Biden’s inauguration ends. January.
Trudeau also took a moment to “reflect on the historic milestone” of the US election. “To see a woman, a black and South Asian-American woman elected as the next Vice President of the United States is inspiring,” he said.
And, he said, “It is a welcome sign that the newly elected president has indicated that climate change is one of his top priorities.”
Biden has vowed to join the UN’s Paris climate change deal quickly, after Trump abandoned it.
