Justin Trudeau dismisses calls to fire Canadian ambassador to China after Meng Wanzhou US extradition remarks
- Ambassador John McCallum regrets ‘confusion’ created by his remarks about Huawei case
- PM says firing McCallum would not help Canadians detained in China
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday dismissed calls to fire Canada’s ambassador to China after the diplomat said extraditing a Chinese executive to the US would not be a “happy outcome”.
Ambassador John McCallum also said this week that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has a strong case to avoid extradition and suggested the case is politically motived. The remarks to Chinese-language media in the Toronto area surprised many and fuelled speculation of a signal to the Chinese to lower tensions.
Later on Thursday, McCallum said that he had “misspoke” and the he regretted the confusion caused by his remarks.
“These comments do not accurately represent my position on this issue,” McCallum said. “As the government has consistently made clear, there has been no political involvement in this process.”
Opposition Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has said Trudeau should fire McCallum because his remarks raise concerns about the politicisation of the Meng case.
