By Kunchok Dolma Yaklha, Special Appointee for Human Rights
Following the recent arrest of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Chinese government threatened that Canada will “face grave consequences” and “be held accountable for.”
However, no such threats were made against the United States which had in fact requested Canada for Meng’s arrest for allegedly violating American sanctions against Iran.
Beijing retaliated against Ottawa by sentencing Canadian Robert Schellenberg – who was serving a 15-year imprisonment – to death for drug smuggling in a rushed one-day retrial.
Two other Canadians, former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, continue to be arbitrarily detained on suspicion of “endangering national security” with very little information about their conditions and due process.
An important question arises here – why is China going after Canadians and not American citizens, especially when the United States is taking a wide range of steps that is making China angry?
Because it can.
The U.S. stands wtih Tibet in its fight against China
Amidst the trade war and diplomatic fiasco between the United States and China that began in January 2018, the American government has asserted support for a cause that infuriates the Chinese Communist Party – the Tibet cause.
On December 19, 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law a legislation that punishes Chinese officials deemed responsible for denying American diplomats, citizens and journalists entry to Tibet.
The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act requires the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress within 90 days of enactment, and then annually for the next five years, that includes an assessment of the level of access to Tibetan areas Chinese authorities grant Americans.
Individuals whom the Secretary, currently Mike Pompeo, deems responsible for restricting access to Tibetan areas will be denied visas to the United States or any active visas they have will be revoked.
Beijing “firmly opposed” the new legislation and said Washington is “grossly interfering in China’s domestic affairs.”
The Trump administration went even further by allowing certain meetings between Central Tibetan Administration’s President Lobsang Sangay and high-level U.S. officials to be made public.
Notable among these was President Sangay’s meeting with top officials from the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, particularly Thomas Vajda, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security and Transnational Affairs; and David Ranz, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for South Asia.
It is safe to assume that the general practice for such engagements would be a closed-door meeting.
Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States, did not hold back from criticizing China’s record of gross human rights violations in Tibet.
“For nearly 70 years, the Tibetan people have been brutally repressed by the Chinese government,” Pence said at the first ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom held in July last year.
Canada afraid to take a strong stance against China?
Turning back to how China is bullying Canada, Canada’s ambassador to China John McCallum raised many eyebrows after his recent remarks where he appears to be acting more like Meng’s defence lawyer.
At a press conference in front of a mostly Chinese-language media in Ontario, Canada, McCallum said Meng has “quite a strong case” to fight extradition to the United States.
“One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there’s an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there’s the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So, I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,” he further added.
Recall that McCallum was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry to demand Meng’s release. He described the meeting as “very hostile” and said Chinese President Xi Jinping was “very angry.”
Speculations are rife that the Canadian government is trying to defuse tensions with China through the ambassador’s statements.
Meanwhile, there is a Canadian man on death row in China, and two other Canadians detained under conditions that would be legally and morally unacceptable in Canada.
As a country, Canada proudly enjoys a global reputation as a defender of human rights and the rule of law.
Is this really the time for it to be worrying about what the Chinese government commonly refers to as “hurting the feelings of the Chinese people?”
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are that of the individual and do not necessarily reflect those of the Central Tibetan Administration.