Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raises Kovrig and Spavor cases with Chinese President Xi Jinping at G20
- Trudeau says the two leaders had a series of constructive conversations at summit, their first direct contact since ties were strained by the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou
Canada’s prime minister said he had constructive talks with the Chinese president on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan, raising concerns directly about the detention of two Canadians in China.
The contact between the two leaders appeared stilted and was the first since diplomatic and trade relations soured over the arrest in Canada of a Chinese telecoms executive at the request of the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians held in China for alleged spying in apparent retaliation for the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
“I have an opportunity to have face-to-face discussion with President Xi on this issue, we take the situation of the two Canadians detained in China very seriously, and it’s important that we had such exchanges with President Xi,” Trudeau said on Saturday after the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.
“We had a number of meetings over the course of the summit … they were constructive conversations ... you can rest assured that the case of Canadians detained in China is something we will continue seriously.
“We recognise Canada and China are going through a challenging moment right now, that’s why having direct contact is essential to move things forward.