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OTTAWA: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday (November 9) that he is hopeful that the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden will keep up the pressure on China to release two Canadians detained for nearly two years.
Beijing, in an act widely denounced by Western capitals in retaliation, detained former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on suspicions of espionage in December 2018, days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou for a United States order.
At a press conference, Trudeau said his administration has “worked very closely” with the Donald Trump administration and other allies to pressure Beijing to release the couple.
“I am extremely confident that the incoming US administration will continue to be a good partner for Canada and other nations around the world as we seek to impress China that the approach they are taking is simply not working (and) … the importance of giving back to the two Canadians who have been arbitrarily detained for more than 700 days, “he said.
Trudeau also renewed his criticism of what Ottawa has described as China’s “coercive diplomacy”, calling it “ineffective and extremely worrying to democratic nations around the world.”
The tit-for-tat arrests plunged relations between Canada and China into an unprecedented crisis.
As Meng fights for extradition to the United States, where she is wanted on fraud charges linked to violations of the US sanctions against Iran, Kovrig and Spavor disappeared into Beijing’s opaque judicial system.
Ottawa and Beijing, meanwhile, have repeatedly accused each other of sparking the diplomatic row that threw out preliminary free trade talks.
Trudeau was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their electoral victory, less than an hour after the US media announced it.
On Monday, the prime minister expressed confidence in the U.S. electoral system and declined to comment on Trump’s refusal to admit defeat, saying he would continue to work with Trump on bilateral issues until Biden’s inauguration later. from January.
Trudeau also took a moment to “reflect on the historic milestone” in the US elections. “To see a woman, an African-American and South Asian-American woman elected as the next Vice President of the United States is an inspiration,” he said.
And, he said, “it is a good sign that the new president-elect has indicated that climate change is one of his top priorities.”
Biden has vowed to rejoin the UN’s Paris Agreement on climate change quickly, after Trump abandoned it.
