Country safeguards its citizens, says ministry

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday that the safe return to China of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, showed that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have the will and ability to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens and companies.

"This also fully proves once again that a strong China under the strong leadership of the CPC will always be the strong backing of every Chinese citizen," Hua said, adding that China's development will not be stopped by any force.

Hua said Meng's case was political persecution of a Chinese citizen that aimed to suppress Huawei and other Chinese high-tech companies, and that it was completely different in nature from the cases of two Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Spavor had been sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of spying and the illegal provision of State secrets in August, while Kovrig had also been formally charged with espionage.

According to media reports, the two Canadians have been released recently on bail for health reasons under the guarantee of the Canadian ambassador to China.

Earlier on Monday, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also reiterated the Chinese government's firm position to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens, saying that no compromise will ever be made in this regard.

Wang made the remark in a telephone conversation with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Felix Plasencia.

Plasencia said Venezuela opposes any unilateral sanctions against Chinese individuals and companies and felt inspired and delighted over the firm stand that China has taken on Meng's case.

Wang said the practice of fabricating various kinds of excuses due to political motives in order to arbitrarily detain the citizen of another country is outright coercion and bullying. It is also a challenge to international rules and human conscience, he said.

China believes that more and more countries will reject various kinds of illegal unilateral sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction and political plots in order to jointly safeguard international fairness and justice and uphold basic norms governing international relations, he added.