Canada’s Justin Trudeau looks to Joe Biden for help in dispute with China
- PM says he spoke to US president-elect about two Canadians imprisoned in alleged retaliation for arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou
- Trudeau rejects ‘coercive diplomacy’, saying he expects new US administration to be a ‘good partner’ in convincing Beijing its approach is ‘simply not working’
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he spoke with US President-elect Joe Biden about China’s imprisonment of two Canadians in retaliation for the arrest of a top Huawei Technologies Co. executive, and he expects Biden to be a good partner in convincing Beijing to release them.
Beijing arrested former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor in December 2018 just days after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese Huawei executive and the daughter of the company’s founder.
The US is seeking Meng’s extradition on fraud charges and her extradition case is before the Canadian courts. Her arrest severely damaged relations between China and Canada.
China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death and suspended canola imports.
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Spy case against two Canadians in China for 'political gains', says Trudeau
Trudeau tweeted that be spoke to Biden and congratulated the president-elect on his victory.
He wrote that they talked about number of issues including the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and the detained Canadians.