For the first time since January, Canadian consular officials have been allowed to meet with two Chinese citizens, Kang Mingkai and Spavor, who were “arbitrarily denied detention” by the Chinese, the Canadian Foreign Ministry announced Saturday. At the same time, Prime Minister Trudeau thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his efforts to rescue the two Canadian citizens from detention.
Trudeau issued a statement Saturday after a phone call with Trump, “thanking President Trump and the United States for their efforts to demand the immediate release of two Canadian citizens arbitrarily detained by China. However, the message did not list specific details.
After repeated efforts, Canada’s ambassador to Beijing, Damin Bao, finally received permission from China to pay video visits to the two imprisoned men on Friday and Saturday. The Canadian Foreign Ministry said that the Canadian embassy and consulates have been offering their services to the two citizens and their families, but could not provide specific details. The last time the consulate staff visited the two men was on Jan. 13 and Jan. 14, the ministry said.
Huawei’s finance chief Meng Wanzhou was arrested by Canadian police at the request of the U.S. while transiting through Vancouver Airport on December 1, 2018, when the U.S. accused Meng of knowingly committing financial fraud in violation of the U.S. ban on Iran.On December 10, Kang Mingkai, a former Canadian diplomat working in China, and Spavor, a business consultant, were arrested by the Chinese and held up until June of last year on suspicion of financial fraud. Espionage Charges. The arrests of Mingkai Kang and Spavor were recognized in the West as Beijing’s retaliation against Canada for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou.
The treatment that Kang and Spavor received in China was a far cry from what Meng Wanzhou received in Canada. Meng Wanzhou was quickly released on parole, lives in her own mansion in Vancouver, has free access to the city, and appears in court with a smile on her face, sometimes sending one or two signals of longing for her country, while the two Canadian citizens have been silent for a long time since their arrest.
Meng Wanzhou’s extradition trial is now underway in Canada, where a Canadian judge has just denied a request by Meng’s lawyers for confidential U.S.-Canadian documents related to her extradition, which is seen as another setback in her legal battle to get out of extradition to the United States.
Meng is due back in court for a hearing on October 26, and it is estimated that the extradition case should be decided in April 2021.
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