China has spoken out against Canada over the signing of a declaration denouncing the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals, describing the move as a “contemptible and hypocritical act”, as relations between the two countries remain strained.
Earlier this week, Canada and 57 other countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Germany and Sweden, jointly signed a statement condemning the use of arbitrary detention for political purposes.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke to reporters on Thursday, saying Beijing had conveyed its frustration to Ottawa over the joint statement.
“Canada has teamed up with some countries to issue a so-called declaration against arbitrary detention and deliberately allow the people involved to slander China’s arbitrary detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” said spokeswoman Hua Chunying. .
Although the men did not mention in the joint statement, Canada has been trying for almost two years to build worldwide support for its campaign to secure the release of the two Canadian citizens who were jailed by China in 2018.
Kovrig and Spavor are both accused of endangering national security, but Canada says China is carrying hostage diplomacy.
Canada had earlier said it believed the arrests were in retaliation for the arrest of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou in December 2018. Meng is currently living in Vancouver while fighting extradition to the US on charges of fraud.
“The so-called statement from Canada is more like a confession in which the Canadian party admits its mistake in the Meng Wanzhou case,” Hua said. “On the one hand, the Canadian side argues that it complies with the rule of law, but on the other hand, it acts as an accomplice of the United States and holds Chinese citizens arbitrarily.”
Although not mentioned in the statement, China had previously called the document an ‘ill-considered attack to provoke’ and warned that Canada’s efforts would “backfire in the worst possible way”.
Canadian Foreign Secretary Marc Garneau called the document “country agnostic” and pushed back on the idea that it was aimed at a specific nation.
“This illegal and immoral practice endangers citizens of all countries and undermines the rule of law,” he said in a statement.