Canada pushes China to release two detainees, calls it 'top priority'

Despite certain disagreements affecting the bilateral ties, Canada has pressed China to release two Canadian citizens detained in the mainland. The Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne met with Chinese state councillor Wang Yi in Rome on Tuesday, August 25 and was followed by a statement by Ottawa saying that Champagne reiterated the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who are detained in China, and called them a “top priority” of the Canadian government. 

Canadian Foreign Ministry said, “Minister Champagne again reiterated that the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor remain a top priority for the Government of Canada and that Canada continues to call on China to immediately release both men and to grant clemency to all Canadians facing the death penalty in China.”

“Canada continues to call for immediate consular access to Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor. China’s actions are in violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” it added.

Apart from the issue of release of Canadian citizens, Champagne and Wang, as per the statement, also talked about the importance of global collaboration to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. This also included the search of a vaccine for the fatal disease and also during the recovery period post-COVID-19. Moreover, the Canadian Foreign Minister also put forth a number of areas of ‘disagreement’ with China and made Ottawa’s position ‘very clear’.

The statement concluded saying, “Finally, the Minister also raised a number of areas of disagreement where Canada continues to make its positions very clear, while committing to ongoing discussions between Canada and China.”

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Canada-China ties over the years

It was in December 2018 when the ties between both the nations began deteriorating after Canadian law enforcement officers, on US extradition warrant, detained the chief financial officer of Huawei Technology Co Ltd, meng Wanzhou. Shortly after which China arrested Candian citizens Spavor and Kovrig, charged them with spying and even barred the imports of some canola seed. 

Wang and Champagne met for at least 90 minutes on August 25 after previously holding in-person talks back in Japan in November 2019. While Ottawa said that it raised the issue of detainees being released, the Chinese foreign ministry reportedly said that Wang has told Champagne that Canada’s unprovoked detention of Meng led to ‘serious difficulties’ in the Canada-China ties. The statement also said that Wang has urged Canada to take necessary actions to rectify the same. However, China did not mention the name of citizens from both nations. 

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(With agency inputs)