A man holds a sign bearing photographs of Kovrig and Spavor outside B.C. Supreme Court where Meng was attending a hearing in Vancouver on Jan. 21, 2020
Yet some in Canada’s international affairs community reacted with horror at the suggestion, despite the plight of the detainees, that experts including three former foreign ministers would recommend that Canada turn back on its commitment to judicial independence in the case. Since these arrests, some have argued that Ottawa should simply release Meng in exchange for the release of Kovrig and Spavor, most recently in interviews with and letters signed by a number of high-profile Canadians. These arguments are not only wrong in principle but would involve Canada betraying important values and letting down a number of our key allies.
Historically we have only declined to extradite in very narrow and exceptional cases. What is being asked of us in Meng’s case is that we abandon this honourable tradition, not because of some flaw in the extradition case brought by the Americans, but because China is holding our citizens hostage. The integrity of the rule of law and our judicial system requires that we decline to do so.
Nor is this just about Canada. China has detained citizens from countries like Australia, Japan, Great Britain and the U.S. for political ends. If Canada capitulates to Chinese hostage-taking, we would be abandoning solidarity with our allies and making ourselves a weak link when it comes to dealing with Chinese aggression.
Holding firm against China’s scandalous treatment of Kovrig and Spavor does not exhaust our options. Ottawa is rightly working with our allies to denounce China’s illegal hostage diplomacy and to improve the deplorable conditions in which Kovrig and Spavor are being held. Yet more can still be done. For instance, Ottawa should issue a warning to Canadians that it cannot guarantee their safety when travelling in China.
The majority of those people on that list are Steve Bannon's associates. They wouldn't know or recognize liberal democracy if it was right in front of their face. They're running their own 'agenda.'
Many Canadians agree with the PM. It would be prudent not to engage in 'hostage diplomacy,' which will only embolden the Chinese regime. The best way for Canada to respond to China's bullying and intimidation is to levy sanctions on CCP officials using the Sergei Magnitsky Law.
What are we getting from the Americans in exchange for endangering our citizens by being accomplices to a state-sanctioned kidnapping? If the answer is 'nothing,' then the lives of our people are far more important than acting as a US proxy in their spat with the Chinese.