Trudeau rejects idea of prisoner swap with China, says bowing to Beijing would put more Canadians at risk

OTTAWA – The prime minister is rejecting growing calls to release a Huawei executive in order to secure the release of two Canadians who have been languishing in a Chinese jail for the last 18 months.

Justin Trudeau says bowing to pressure from Beijing would put “an awful lot more” citizens at risk by signalling Canada can be intimidated.

“If countries around the world, including China, realize that by arbitrarily arresting random Canadians, they can get what they want out of Canada politically? Well that makes an awful lot more Canadians who travel around the world vulnerable to that kind of pressure,” he says.

“We need to demonstrate that we have an independent judiciary and we will continue to respect that independent judiciary, regardless of the pressure put on us by foreign governments. And that’s why, even as we do everything we can to bring those Michaels home, we will not give in to these political pressures and compromise the independence of our judiciary or allow others to conclude that there are political paths to get what they want out of Canada’s independent judicial system.”

On China saying releasing Meng Wanzhou would help free Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau says all Canadians become vulnerable if a foreign government believes it can randomly detain Canadians to get what it wants #cdnpoli

— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) June 25, 2020

Trudeau says while he respects the experts and former diplomats who have signed a letter calling for a prisoner swap to end these tensions, he disagrees with them.

Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China since December of 2018. They were taken into custody just days after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the U.S. on fraud charges.

Meng is accused of violating sanctions on Iran, and her extradition case is now before a British Columbia Court.

China has detained the two Canadians on allegations of undermining the country’s national security, developments widely seen in Canada as retaliation for Meng’s arrest.

Signatories to the letter, obtained by The Canadian Press, include Jean Chretien-era ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Andre Ouellet, former Conservative minister Lawrence Cannon and former diplomat Robert Fowler, who was himself taken hostage in 2008 in Niger.