Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland says fired China ambassador was out of step with government
- John McCallum’s remarks on Huawei case made it ‘untenable’ for him to continue as envoy
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Canada’s envoy to China was sacked for being out of step with the government when he suggested a Chinese executive detained on a US warrant had a “strong” case against extradition, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked for ambassador John McCallum’s resignation on Saturday, after he said the US extradition request for top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was flawed.
“Ambassador McCallum’s comments were inconsistent with the position of the government of Canada,” Freeland said.
“The first and foremost job of any ambassador of our country is to express accurately our government’s position. And that is what made it untenable for ambassador McCallum to remain in his role.”
Meng, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, was arrested while changing planes in Vancouver on December 1.
Accused of fraud linked to alleged violations of American sanctions on Iran, she is out on bail, but her arrest has sparked an escalating diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing, with the US in the middle.
McCallum briefed lawmakers last Tuesday on the plight of two Canadians detained in China and a third placed on death row in what are widely seen as retaliatory moves by Beijing.
He told Chinese-language news media that Meng had a “strong case” against extradition to the US, citing remarks by US President Donald Trump that appeared to politicise her arrest.
McCallum walked back the comments, which opposition parties said undercut the strict hands-off approach to judicial matters touted by the Canadian government.
But on Friday, he doubled down by telling The Vancouver Star that it would be “great for Canada” if the US dropped its extradition request for Meng.
