China said Monday (Oct. 19) that it has lodged a serious complaint with the Canadian government over alleged “deliberate misinterpretation” of the Chinese ambassador’s remarks by Canadian media, as well as the Canadian leader’s “connivance in pandering to domestic anti-China rhetoric. Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peimu’s remarks sparked great controversy and drew harsh criticism from both sides of the political spectrum in Canada.
In a video press conference last Thursday, Cong Peiwu described the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as thugs and warned Canada against granting them political asylum, saying it would constitute interference in China’s internal affairs. He said that if Canada truly cares about the health and safety of the 300,000 Canadian passport holders in Hong Kong, as well as the interests of the large number of Canadian companies operating in Hong Kong, it should support the Chinese government’s efforts to combat violent crime.
Asked whether this was a threat to Canada, Cong Peiwu did not immediately deny it, but replied, “That’s your interpretation.
Cong Peiwu also argued that the Hong Kong and Xinjiang issues are not human rights issues, but purely internal Chinese affairs that cannot be interfered with from outside. He also claimed that the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” has been widely recognized by the vast majority of Hong Kong residents over the past three and a half months; on the issue of Xinjiang, there has not been a single case of terrorism in the past four years, and it has made a positive contribution to the global anti-terrorism effort.
In response, the Canadian government dismissed Cong Peiwu’s remarks as “totally unacceptable. Many Canadian opposition lawmakers and critics have said that foreign ambassadors should not be allowed to openly threaten the safety of Canadian citizens on Canadian soil. The Conservative Party of Canada has demanded that Mr. Cong Peiwu apologize or be expelled.
An editorial published in the Toronto Sun on the 17th demanded that Peiwu Cong apologize or leave Canada. The editorial says, “It’s not enough for the Trudeau government to publicly chastise Cong Peimu; if he doesn’t apologize and retract his threats, he’ll be kicked back to Beijing.
At a press conference on October 13, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Canada and China, Prime Minister Trudeau strongly criticized Beijing’s “coercive diplomacy,” its repressive measures in Hong Kong, the detention of Uighur Muslims, and the arbitrary detention of two Canadian citizens. He asserted that these practices are counterproductive for China itself and for the rest of the world.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press conference on Monday that some Canadian media outlets deliberately misinterpreted the remarks made by the Chinese ambassador to Canada, and that the Canadian leader, instead of verifying them, condoned the domestic remarks and made groundless accusations against China, which China strongly resents and opposes, and has made serious representations to the Canadian side.
He also argued that matters involving Hong Kong and its borders are purely China’s internal affairs, not human rights issues at all. He said the Canadian side should discard its ideology and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs by using the issue of Hong Kong’s involvement in border affairs.
Relations between Canada and China hit a low point after Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canada at the request of the United States in late 2018. In retaliation, Beijing then arrested former Canadian diplomat Kang Mingkai and businessman Spavor in what was widely seen as China’s “hostage diplomacy” to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou.
China has denied the “hostage diplomacy” claim and has repeatedly demanded that Canada release Meng while sentencing two other Canadians to death in 2019 on drug smuggling charges. In addition, China has banned the import of large quantities of Canadian agricultural products.
In a press conference on Monday, Zhao Lijian also said that Canada is well aware that the arbitrary detention of Meng Wanzhou is the root cause of the blockage in China-Canada relations, and that Canada does not dare to address the issue, but instead ignores the “basic facts” of China’s arrest and prosecution of the Canadian citizen “in accordance with the law” in an attempt to rally allies to pressure China.
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