The arrest of Huawei “princess” could seriously damage China-Canada relations“
(Baonghean.vn) - China has increased pressure on Canada to release Ms. Meng Wanzhou - Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Chinese telecommunications corporation Huawei, by threatening Canada with serious consequences and accusing the North American country of "hurting the feelings of the Chinese people".
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| China has increased pressure on Canada to release Ms. Meng Wanzhou. Photo: Getty |
The move has escalated tensions, making it the worst diplomatic disagreement between Beijing and Ottawa.
The arrest of Ms. Meng Wanzhou took place at the same time that Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump had dinner together in Buenos Aires, and made Beijing extremely angry.
On the morning of December 2, a few hours after the arrest, Xinhua news agency criticized the arrest as an "extremely dirty" act, and "seriously damaging China-Canada relations".
Meanwhile, the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, also published information in a strong tone, criticizing Canada for arresting Ms. Meng Wanzhou and threatening to take action against Ottawa if she is not released.
The joint statement by China's Foreign Ministry, Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily criticizing Ottawa is unusual, reflecting Beijing's seriousness in the matter and its determination to force Canada to release Meng Wanzhou.
David Mulroney, Canada's former ambassador to China, told Reuters that perhaps some of the high-level visits and exchanges between China and Canada would be frozen for a period of time, and free trade could also be frozen.
“But we’re going to have to live with that,” Mr. Mulroney said. “That’s the price you pay for dealing with a country like China.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Shi Enhong, Director of the Center for American Studies at Renmin University of China and an advisor to the Chinese State Council, commented that the arrest of Huawei's CFO has put Beijing in a position of having to choose between the need to show a tough stance to protect Chinese citizens doing business abroad or keeping peace with an advanced industrial country like Canada.
According to this expert, in the context of tensions between Beijing and Washington, if China takes strong retaliatory action against Canada, this move could hurt the relationship between the two countries. Mr. Thoi said that this is a difficult problem and it is difficult to predict what will happen.
A trial is expected to be held on December 10 to consider whether Ms. Manh will be released on bail or not./.
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