China on Monday accused Britain and the European Union of hypocrisy for being concerned about Beijing’s detention of two Canadian citizens, claiming that they did not mention a Chinese executive arrested in Canada.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland had said on Saturday that Canada will try to obtain support from allies to free the two detained citizens, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessperson, Reuters reported. The United States, Britain and the EU have also backed Canada.
The two were detained after Canadian police arrested Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on December 1. Meng might be extradited to the United States on charges of fraud. However, on December 12, a Canadian court granted her bail.
“We urge relevant countries to earnestly respect China’s judicial sovereignty,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a press briefing on Monday. “What’s this got to do with Britain and the EU? When the Canadians illegally detained a senior executive at a Chinese company at the request of the United States, where were they?” Hua accused the three countries of “different standards of human rights for different countries’ citizens”.
Hua defended the detention of the two Canadian citizens, claiming that they are suspected of endangering state security. The spokesperson urged Canada to release Meng, and the United States to withdraw its arrest warrant against her.
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