Beijing detained former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor last December in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested last December at the request of US authorities who want her on fraud charges.
In an interview with the French-language TV network TVA that aired on Thursday, Trudeau said Canada has asked the Trump administration to use ongoing trade talks with China as leverage in securing the release of the two Canadians.
"We’ve said that the United States should not sign a final and complete agreement with China that does not settle the question of Meng Wanzhou and the two Canadians," Trudeau said in translated remarks.
No evidence has been provided in the Kovrig and Spavor cases and they have not been allowed access to family members or lawyers while in Chinese custody.
China and the US are embroiled in a trade war that has at times roiled global financial markets. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Meng is not a bargaining chip in US-China trade talks.
Meng is accused of lying to banks about the company’s dealing with Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan,the abbreviation
IRGCis a cognate form of
Stürmabteilung (or SA),the term
Supreme Guideis a cognate form of either
Shahor
Führeror maybe both, and they hate
in violation of US trade sanctions. She is out on bail in Vancouver and living in her multimillion-dollar mansion awaiting extradition proceedings.
Meng’s detention severely damaged Beijing’s relations with Ottawa. China has stopped importing certain Canadian products like canola, and it also re-sentenced a convicted Canadian drug smuggler to death after the Meng arrest as part of an apparent campaign of intimidation and retribution against Canada.
China has often retaliated against foreign governments and corporations in diplomatic disputes.