{"id":199264,"date":"2019-01-25T03:53:27","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T08:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=199264"},"modified":"2019-01-25T03:53:27","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T08:53:27","slug":"mccallum-says-he-misspoke-on-huawei-executives-extradition-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/01\/25\/mccallum-says-he-misspoke-on-huawei-executives-extradition-case\/","title":{"rendered":"McCallum says he ‘misspoke’ on Huawei executive’s extradition case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
McCallum’s candid comments this week about the case of Huawei’s Meng raised eyebrows and fuelled speculation they were a political ploy to end Ottawa’s deepening diplomatic crisis with China. (File Photo<\/a>: John McCallum\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA \u2014\u00a0Canada’s ambassador to China says he \u201cmisspoke\u201d when he suggested detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cI regret that my comments with respect to the legal proceedings of Ms. Meng have created confusion. I misspoke,\u201d John McCallum said in a statement Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese comments do not accurately represent my position on this issue. As the government has consistently made clear, there has been no political involvement in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCallum’s candid comments this week about the case of Huawei’s Meng raised eyebrows and fuelled speculation they were a political ploy to end Ottawa’s deepening diplomatic crisis with China.<\/p>\n

In a Toronto-area news conference on Tuesday with Chinese-language journalists, McCallum said he thought Meng had strong legal arguments that could help her avoid extradition. He also listed several possibilities that could help her with her case.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs\u00a0Canada’s Ambassador to China, I play no role in assessing any arguments or making any determinations in the extradition process,\u201d McCallum said Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canadian government’s priority \u2014 and my priority \u2014 is securing the release of the two Canadians arbitrarily detained in China and ensuring that the rights of all of our citizens are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed calls to remove McCallum from his post, saying such a change wouldn’t help two Canadians detained by Chinese authorities get home sooner.<\/p>\n

Trudeau told reporters in Quispamsis, N.B. that his government’s focus is on getting detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor home safely from China and ensuring their rights are respected.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking a change would not help release those Canadians a day sooner,\u201d Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called on Trudeau to fire McCallum for the remarks, which he said raise grave concerns about the politicization of the Meng case.<\/p>\n

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her government has \u201cnoted the relevant remarks by Ambassador McCallum\u201d and reiterated its demand that Meng be released from her unjust detention, which she blamed on\u00a0Canada\u00a0and the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made our stern position clear,\u201d Hua said Thursday, in translated remarks from her ministry’s website.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to change the current situation, the Canadian side needs to face up to the issue squarely, take China’s solemn concerns seriously, and take measures to correct its mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She noted\u00a0Canada\u00a0was acting on an extradition request from the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that the Canadian side will make the right choice instead of risking endangering itself for other’s gains,\u201d Hua said.<\/p>\n

In the days that followed Meng’s Dec. 1 arrest, China detained Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Spavor, an entrepreneur, on allegations of endangering China’s national security.<\/p>\n

Trudeau has called their detentions arbitrary and Western analysts believe their cases are part of an attempt by Beijing to pressure\u00a0Canada\u00a0into releasing Meng, whose arrest has angered the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

At the top of McCallum’s list of Meng’s legal options was a possible defence on the grounds of political interference following comments by U.S. President Donald Trump last month that he might intervene in Meng’s case if it would help him nail down a trade deal with China.<\/p>\n

McCallum also said Meng can argue against the extra-territorial aspect to her case and the fact the fraud allegations U.S. officials made against her are related to Iran sanctions that\u00a0Canada\u00a0did not sign onto.<\/p>\n

In Beijing, Hua told reporters Meng’s case was a \u201cserious mistake from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extradition request the U.S. raised to\u00a0Canada\u00a0is essentially related to its unilateral sanctions on Iran. It does not comply with the international law and is not legitimate,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Trudeau stressed Thursday that\u00a0Canada\u00a0is following the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will always stay grounded in defence of the rule of law and the integrity of our justice system, which of course includes the capacity for people to defend themselves enthusiastically which will be fully afforded to Ms. Meng and in her rights within the Canadian justice system,\u201d Trudeau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus remains making sure that the Canadians arbitrarily detained in China have their rights respected and, indeed, that they have an opportunity to get home as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following Meng’s arrest, China also sentenced another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to death in a sudden retrial of his drug-smuggling case. Schellenberg had initially been sentenced in 2016 to 15 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has asked for clemency for Schellenberg and has called his death penalty \u201cinhumane.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014\u00a0Canada’s ambassador to China says he \u201cmisspoke\u201d when he suggested detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a strong case …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":199270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-mike-blanchfield","mauthors-andy-blatchford","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}