Canada’s relationship with China has reached a boiling point.
Meng Wanzhou, an executive at the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, was arrested by Canadian police in December. She faces extradition to the United States to face charges of violating sanctions against Iran.
She has been released on conditional bail while her case goes through the courts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have retaliated. They arrested Canadians Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor. Neither have been formally charged nor have they been given basic rights, like the right to a lawyer.
In addition, a Chinese court sentenced Robert Schellenberg to death in a sudden retrial of a drug-smuggling case. Backed by the United States, the federal government is actively pushing for the release of Canadians held by China.
In a January 9th op-ed in the Hill Times, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada accused Canada of “white supremacy,” condemning Canada for its treatment of Chinese businesswoman Meng Wanzhou.
Despite Justin Trudeau once saying he “admires China’s basic dictatorship”, Communist Chinese officials have continuously made foul comments towards Canadians during Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister.
In 2016 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi launched a verbal attack on a journalist who questioned him on human rights in China in regards to the jailing of a Canadian in China.
“Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance… this is totally unacceptable,” said Yi to an iPolitics reporter.
In 2017 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to China, Chinese state-owned media attacked his statements and Canada in general.
The Global Times, a Chinese publication owned by the Communist Party, lashed out at Canadian journalists for calling out China’s dictatorial tendencies.
“The superiority and narcissism of the Canadian media… is beyond words,” said the Global Times editorial.
Hu Xijin, the Editor of the Global Times, also made his own video commentary on Canada.
“If you continue to trade with China and benefit from it, you shouldn’t let your foul-mouthed media continue their deeds,” said Xijin.
He also suggested that China should check Canadian grain to see “if it is so rich in capitalism that we might choke to death eating it.”
As long as Canada opposes China’s foreign and domestic policies, verbal attacks from Chinese official are likely to continue.
