During a surprise visit with Canadian troops in Mali Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the first time publicly called on China to release two detained Canadians.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer told 麻豆影视 that he believes Trudeau should pick up the telephone and appeal to Chinese President Xi Jinping directly.
鈥淲e continue to call for the release of the detainees,鈥� Trudeau told reporters before leaving West African country. 鈥淭his is something that is extremely important to us.鈥�
The toughening tone from the prime minister came the same day that Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said that Canada is instructing its ambassadors and urging its allies to push for the pair鈥檚 release.
鈥淥ne point that we have been raising with our allies 鈥� is the concern about the worrying precedent that the arbitrary detention of these two Canadians sets,鈥� Freeland said during a conference call with reporters Saturday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a point that has really resonated.鈥�
Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor were arrested in China days after Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was detained in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the behest of U.S. authorities.
The U.S. accuses Huawei of violating Iran sanctions. The Chinese government has accused the two detained Canadians of 鈥渆ngaging in activities that endanger the national security鈥� of China, although analysts see the move as retaliation for Meng鈥檚 arrest.
Reports suggests Canadian may be facing 鈥榯orture鈥�
China鈥檚 foreign minister is denying reports that Kovrig is being held in a room that鈥檚 never dark and being denied access to a lawyer.
Charles Burton, an associate professor of political science at Brock University, says that if they allegations are true, they are 鈥渃ompletely unacceptable.鈥�
鈥�(It鈥檚) really a gross violation of human rights and a violation of China鈥檚 commitment to the UN convention against torture,鈥� he said.
While it remains unknown what conditions Spavor is facing, Meng, who is out on $10 million bail, is spending her time awaiting extradition proceedings in a Vancouver home owned by her family.
Scheer suggests Trudeau pick up the phone
In an interview airing Sunday with CTV Question Period host Evan Solomon, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer claimed that he would respond to the growing diplomatic detente by calling Chinese President Xi Jinping directly.
鈥淚 actually think that by picking up the phone and having that kind of conversation, we might be able to diffuse the situation,鈥� Scheer said. 鈥淭he Prime Minister could explain that we have independent (judicial) processes here,鈥� he added.
China expert Lynette Ong, however, believes that a tougher Canadian approach would likely have little effect on Chinese authorities.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they would just back down with a few statements coming from various foreign ministries,鈥� said Ong, who is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
鈥淭he reason I say that is because I think the arrest of the Canadians was also a political strategy on the part of Chinese authorities,鈥� she added.
With files from The Canadian Press
