China opposes Canadian declaration on arbitrary detention

BEIJING -- China has expressed its firm opposition to the so-called Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention issued by Canada and some other countries on Feb 15, and lodged stern representations with the Canadian side, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

"If Canada really opposes 'arbitrary detention,' it should act on its words and immediately release Meng Wanzhou and allow her to return to China safe and sound," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing.

Canada gathered a number of countries to issue the so-called Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention and deliberately arranged relevant personnel to accuse China of the "arbitrary detention" of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. This is a thief shouting "stop thief," confusing right from wrong, Hua said.

Hua pointed out that Meng Wanzhou has been arbitrarily detained by Canada for two years despite violating no Canadian laws, which clearly shows that Canada has arbitrarily arrested and detained foreign citizens.

"The so-called declaration is more like Canada's confession acknowledging its mistakes in the Meng Wanzhou case," she said, adding that Canada portrayed itself as upholding the rule of law while acting as an accomplice of the United States in arbitrarily detaining Chinese citizens, which is "despicable and hypocritical."

Hua also refuted Canada's claims that it was supported by relevant countries, saying that some countries were coaxed by Canada and have since withdrawn from the joint declaration, and some listed in the joint declaration said they were not informed about their inclusion.

As to the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, they were prosecuted for suspected crimes undermining China's national security. China's judicial organs are handling the cases independently in accordance with the law, and the lawful rights of the two men have been guaranteed, she said.

Noting that the incident of Meng Wanzhou and the cases of the two Canadian citizens are completely different and bunching them together is an ill-intentioned distortion of the facts, Hua said Canada's attempt at "microphone diplomacy" is doomed to fail and will only end in Canada hurting itself.