Two Canadians have now been detained in China for over 1,000 days for allegedly breaching national security laws. Both have been tried and one, Michael Spavor, has been found guilty and faces 11 years in prison. It did not have to end this way. A solution to this most unfortunate situation was available to the Canadian government all along. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau reacted with dismay to the court decision on Spavor, with Garneau calling his detention and that of Kovrig “completely arbitrary”. Their detention followed the arrest of Meng Wanzhou , the chief financial officer of Huawei, on December 1, 2018 in Vancouver on a warrant for extradition issued by US authorities over Huawei’s alleged circumvention of US sanctions on Iran. Meng is fighting extradition in the Canadian courts. Beijing denies any link between the cases. Garneau subsequently stated that Canada would continue to explore all avenues to secure the release of both Michaels. Given what we know about the options before the Canadian government, his statement does not inspire confidence. Promptly dismissed at the time by the Canadian media was an option that could have brought this logjam to an end and allowed Canada to save face. In May 2020, six months after the two Michaels were detained, lawyer Brian Greenspan sent a 10-page letter to the Canadian justice minister, in which he laid out a legal case for the Canadian government to proceed with Meng’s release. He makes a number of distinctions that go to the crux of the matter. First, he cited the parliamentary testimony of Donald Piragoff, general counsel at the Department of Justice, who described extradition as “basically a relationship between two sovereign states and it is an executive decision”. If decisions have to be made, they “are really questions that Canada as a sovereign state, as a political state, should be making”, Piragoff was quoted as saying. Thus, Greenspan added, extradition “is not a prosecution, nor is it an application of Canada’s criminal law. It is a function of international relations.” These considerations were behind the 1999 version of the Extradition Act endorsed by the Canadian Parliament. Yet they were entirely ignored by the Canadian government. Trudeau was quoted on multiple occasions stating that the rule of law must be allowed to follow its course in the proceedings involving Meng. But, as Greenspan noted, “the primary responsibility for ensuring the extradition of persons within Canadian jurisdiction is fair and legal falls to the minister, not the courts”. On its China policy, the Trudeau government has been hijacked by the ideological right in Canada opposed to China. This group benefits from a media that is virtually unanimous in supporting China’s isolation, no matter the cost. Voices of dissent have been shut out of the mainstream media. To question this hardline approach to China would put one at risk of being branded an agent of the Chinese Communist Party. As a result, the Canadian government finds itself unwilling to contemplate any alternative to the current impasse. Yet, at some point, the Canadian government is going to have to bite the bullet and adjust its foreign policy position to the reality on the ground. The Afghan fiasco is just the latest example of misguided Canadian alignment with the United States. US policy on China risks forcing Canada into another such uncomfortable dilemma that would hurt its national interest. Why Canada should adopt a realpolitik approach to China Trudeau’s claim that his top priority remains securing the immediate release of the two Michaels rings hollow. His position has exacted a heavy toll on the Canadian people and the two Michaels. A great opportunity to promote an independent Canadian foreign policy was missed. Following the verdict against Spavor, Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, quoted him saying he wanted “to get home”. Vina Nadjibulla , the wife of Kovrig, was instrumental, along with other eminent Canadians, in obtaining Greenspan’s legal opinion to facilitate a resolution to the crisis. What more does the government need to stand up for its citizens lingering in foreign jails and bring them home? Richard Desjardins retired in 2020 after a 29-year career as a Canadian public servant