The United States called for the release of two detained Canadian citizen in Beijing on Friday, after joining and supporting Canada into this case, in what they believed that it was tit-for-tat arrests followed by the arrest of Huawei chief executive officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou in Canada.
According to news reports, China has last week detained two Canadian men – businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat and advisor with the International Crisis Group (ICG) Michael Kovrig, after the arrest of Huawei CFO on December 1 in Canada.
In an official statement, Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said, “We are deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities of two Canadians earlier this month and call for their immediate release.”
Freeland said Wanzhou was facing a “fair, unbiased and transparent legal proceeding” and also Canada would not “compromise nor politicize the rule of law and due process”.
However, the US state department spokesperson Robert Palladino noted that Canada was doing its job by honouring its international legal commitments by arresting Wanzhou and also then called for the immediate release of Spavor and Kovrig.
In an official statement, British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the United Kingdom “has confidence Canada is conducting a fair and transparent legal proceeding” with Huawei CFO. Hunt further said he was “deeply concerned by suggestions of a political motivation” over the detention of two Canadian citizens.
According to news reports, the European Union said a “declared motive” over the arrest and also the detention of Spavor and Kovrig “raises concerns about legitimate research and business practices in China”.
In a statement, the EU said, “The denial of access to a lawyer under their status of detention is contrary to the right of defence,” adding that it fully supported the efforts made by the Canadian government.
While Wanzhou had s full access to consular and lawyer while she was arrested in Canada and was able to see her family, Kovrig was not been given a legal representation and was also allowed to have only one consular access in a month and also not allowed to see his family.
China has only released the message of detention of two Canadian men into Beijing alleging that they were suspected engaging in such activities that endangered the national security of China.