Trudeau, European leaders talk detention of Canadians in China at G20

OSAKA, Japan — Canada received “broad support” from European leaders at the G20 on the issue of two detained Canadians in China, the Prime Minister’s Office said Friday.

Trudeau, who met with the leaders on Friday including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, has been eyeing heightened support on the detentions at the summit of major economies.

Climate change also figured prominently in the discussions, government officials said.

The arrests of the Canadians — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — is largely viewed as retaliation for the December arrest of Chinese high tech executive Meng Wanzhou.

Meng remains under house arrest in Vancouver, where she awaits extradition to the U.S. to face allegations of fraud in violating Iran sanctions.

Trudeau also is relying on U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 after he committed last week in Washington to raising the issue with the Chinese at the prime minister’s request.

The president is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday at the summit but Trudeau does not have his own meeting with him.

It is important to see whether Trump does indeed raise the issue of the detentions, how he does that, and whether it has any impact, said Thomas Bernes, a fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a research think-tank.

Canada is doing everything it can to energize other heads of government to make a point to the Chinese that this is not an acceptable way to behave, Bernes said, adding it is helpful and important to remind China there is a body of opinion among world leaders.

“Having said that, unfortunately, I don’t expect any early resolution or fast action,” he said.

“We can make the points as we want, we can ask others to make their points, but unless somebody is prepared to put something on the table besides words, I think we’re not going to see very much action.”