Kennedy Stewart, the mayor of Canada’s third-largest city, Vancouver, has suspended all requests and contacts with Chinese government officials, including the Chinese ambassador to Canada, who recently invited him to meet. This is in response to China’s recent announcement of sanctions against his friend, Conservative federal Rep. Michael Chong, and Canadian entities.
Stewart tweeted after the Chinese government announced sanctions against Chong Wen-Hao, saying the Chinese government’s sanctions against Chong and other members of Parliament were unacceptable.
“My office has suspended all requests for meetings and contacts from Chinese government officials.”
Speaking about the Chinese government’s sanctions against Zhuang Wenhao, Stewart said, “This is threatening and intimidating, and I know he’s taking this calmly, but this has reached a new level of hostility – it’s not diplomacy, it’s bullying,” according to the Vancouver Is Awesome news website on April 8. “
Stewart, who was once an NDP MP for Canada, co-authored in 2017 with Wen Ho Chuang and Liberal MP Scott Simms, Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Turning Parliament Inside Out: Practical Ideas for Reforming Canada’s Democracy.
Stewart emphasizes that his stance against the Chinese government is not merely personal, but is intended to condemn China’s human rights abuses and continued detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Last month, Chinese authorities held a secret court hearing for the two Canadian citizens. They were charged with allegedly endangering China’s national security.
The mayor said he received a request for an appointment from Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu about four weeks ago, but he declined.
Stewart said he did not ask about the subject or topics to be covered in the meeting, but decided he would not have any contact with Chinese government officials until China and Canada resolve outstanding issues, including the Uighurs in Xinjiang. “Unless I am advised differently or asked by the federal government to attend these meetings, I will not attend these meetings again,” the Vancouver Good News website quoted him as saying.
The piece cited Stewart’s move as rare, perhaps even unprecedented, for a leader of a Canadian city with a strong Chinese culture. His predecessor had led a trade mission to China and established a “sister city” relationship with Guangzhou.
The Chinese government arrested Kang and Spavor after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 at the request of the United States. Meng is currently in a Canadian court following legal proceedings to resist extradition and is living in her mansion in Vancouver during the trial.
Stewart said he estimates he has had at least 12 meetings with Chinese officials and businesspeople since his election as mayor in October 2018, most of them related to Tong Xiaoling, the Chinese consul general in Vancouver.
On March 28, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that “in response to the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and Canada on March 22 against people and entities related to China’s Xinjiang based on lies and false information,” China decided to impose sanctions on Zhuang Wenhao and the Canadian House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s two leaders of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Zhuang Wenhao responded at the time that he considered the Chinese sanctions against him a “badge of honor.
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