Canada’s top diplomat in China says the Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver at the request of the United States has a strong case to fight extradition.
Meng Wanzhou, the 46-year-old chief financial officer of the telecom giant, has “quite good arguments on her side,” John McCallum said at a news conference with Canadian Chinese-language media in Markham, Ont., on Tuesday.
“One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there’s an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there’s the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,” he said in his opening remarks.
McCallum said a judge will ultimately make the decision on whether she should be extradited, and stressed there has been “zero involvement” by the federal government.
“It’s purely a judicial process. There may come a time when the justice minister is required to give a view, but that will not be for some months to come,” he said.
“I know this has angered China, but we have a system of extradition treaty, a system of rules of law, which are above the government. The government cannot change these things, and as I said, I think Ms. Meng has quite a strong case.”
Despite those assurances, the Liberal government to this point has not weighed in on the merits of the case or offered an opinion on the possible legal avenues her counsel could pursue in court.
In fact, before Tuesday, the government had studiously avoided discussing the facts of the case in public.
Meng is accused of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran through a Huawei subsidiary.
Meng’s case has drawn international attention, and sparked diplomatic tensions between Canada and China.
McCallum, who spoke only to Chinese-language journalists Tuesday without providing advanced knowledge to mainstream media outlets, said the Meng case has angered Chinese President Xi Jinping personally.
“I do know that President Xi Jinping was very angry about this and so others in the Chinese government have taken the lead from him, and I don’t know exactly why,” McCallum said of the Communist party leader.
“Maybe it’s because Huawei is a national flagship company of China. It’s not just any company; it’s a special Chinese company. So, maybe that is why he is so angry.”
After McCallum’s comments surfaced in the mainstream media early Wednesday, a spokesperson for Freeland said Canada is committed to pursuing a fair and transparent legal proceeding.
“There has been no political involvement in this process. Canada respects its international legal commitments, including by honouring its extradition treaty with the United States,” Adam Austen said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has said Canada and the U.S. had abused the extradition agreement in Meng’s case.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., confirmed to CBC News that U.S. officials have indicated to him they will soon file the formal request needed in the extradition case.
There is a Jan. 30 deadline to complete this work.
Canadians detained in China
Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described as “arbitrary” detentions in retaliation for Meng’s arrest. Chinese officials has said only that the two men are accused of “engaging in activities endangering national security.”
Another Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, recently had his 15-year sentence for drug smuggling changed to a death sentence by a Chinese court after a retrial.
McCallum said there had been great progress in strengthening Canada-China relations before Meng’s case erupted.
He said while it is a “difficult time” in bilateral relations, officials and business leaders should continue to move forward.
Canada has issued a travel advisory for China that warns of arbitrary detention, and China has reciprocated with its own warning about Canada. Citing the “arbitrary detention” of a Chinese national at the request of a “third-party country,” China asked citizens to “fully evaluate risks” and exercise caution when travelling to Canada.
McCallum said the government is not saying don’t go to China, but rather that each person must make a personal decision after evaluating the situation. If someone has a history of running afoul of Chinese laws, it’s probably not a good idea to go, but ordinary tourists or business people should have no reason not to travel there, he said.
（中央社渥太華23日綜合外電報導）加拿大駐中國大使麥家廉表示，在溫哥華被捕的中國華為技術公司財務長孟晚舟可以提出「強有力論據」，避免加國將她引渡到美國，部分原因在於美國總統川普所發表談話。
路透社報導，麥家廉（John McCallum）昨天接受中文媒體訪問時作此表示，訪問內容今天播出。這是加拿大官員迄今最明白的說法，顯示孟晚舟或許不會被送交美國，但麥家廉的談話也引起爭議。
麥家廉又說，引渡孟晚舟「不會是個快樂的結果」，這番話可能激怒川普政府。川普上台以來與加拿大總理杜魯道（Justin Trudeau）的自由黨政府關係冷淡。
孟晚舟是華為董事長任正非之女，她去年12月1日在溫哥華轉機時，加拿大政府應美國要求將她逮捕，原因是涉及違反美國對伊朗制裁案件。她目前遭軟禁在當地住處。
川普上個月告訴路透社，如果符合國家安全利益，或是有助與中國達成貿易協議，他將會介入孟晚舟案。加拿大外長方慧蘭隨即警告美方，不要將這宗引渡案政治化。
根據加拿大廣播公司（Canadian Broadcasting Corp）播出的影片，麥家廉在訪問中說，孟晚舟「在她這方面有很好的論據」，其中第一個就是「川普的談話政治介入她的案子」。
麥家廉以英文受訪時也指出，加拿大並未像美國一樣對伊朗實施相關制裁。
他說：「加拿大並未簽署對伊朗的這些制裁。因此我想她在法官面前可以提出強有力的論據。」
麥家廉又說，他認為解決孟晚舟案有3個可能選項，第一個是引渡孟晚舟，但這「不會是個快樂的結果，而且將需時數年」，因為她可能提出上訴。
第2個選項是美國與中國達成交易，美方撤回引渡要求；第3個則是加拿大法院判決釋放孟晚舟，原因是美國的要求沒有道理。
美國司法部至遲必須在1月30日前提出正式引渡要求，屆時加拿大官員有一個月時間決定是否舉行引渡聽證會。法律專家表示，他們預期會舉行這項聽證會。
麥家廉以往曾發表些爭議性談話，總理杜魯道和外長方慧蘭對此都表示，他們不會政治干預此案。杜魯道強調，加拿大是個法治國家。
美聯社報導，加拿大前任駐中國大使馬大維（David Mulroney）批評麥家廉的談話令人驚訝，他呼籲杜魯道與方慧蘭都應與此事劃清界線。
他指出，加拿大政府已表明孟晚舟引渡案將由司法當局定奪，麥家廉如此對法官提出建議全然不適當。（譯者：林治平）
（中央社記者胡玉立多倫多22日專電）在中方要求「糾正錯誤」的威脅下，美國司法部今天回覆加拿大廣播公司（CBC）電郵表示， 美國「將繼續尋求引渡被告孟晚舟，並將符合美加引渡條約訂下的所有期限」。
中國外交部昨天得知加拿大環球郵報（Globe and Mail）報導美國已通知加拿大，將正式提出引渡華為財務長孟晚舟要求後，立即嚴辭敦促美方糾正錯誤、撤銷對孟晚舟的逮捕令、勿向加方提出正式引渡要求，但美方並未出現任何退縮跡象。
CBC報導，美司法部發言人萊蒙迪（Marc Raimondi）除表明會繼續如期引渡孟晚舟，還表示「美國非常感謝加拿大持續與美國共同努力，支持執行法治」。
加國駐美大使麥諾頓（David MacNaughton）也向CBC證實，美方官員已向他表明很快就會正式提出引渡孟晚舟案請求。美方完成引渡要求的截止日期是1月30日。
在瑞士達佛斯（Davos）參與世界經濟論壇的加拿大外交部長方慧蘭向彭博電視台（Bloomberg TV）表示：「加拿大法律制度對每個人都公平公正，孟晚舟在加拿大沒有被指控也沒有被定罪。我們與美國簽訂引渡條約、共享最大的非軍事化邊界，加拿大是法治國家，我們履行對國際條約的承諾。」
方慧蘭（Chrystia Freeland）強調，孟晚舟面臨的法律狀況，並不是因為違反加拿大法律，而是因為美國希望提起他們的刑事訴訟。
方慧蘭表示：「美國要不要從加拿大尋求引渡某人，不論此人是加拿大人或訪客，都是美國自己的決定。然後他們必須在我們的法律制度下，提出引渡理由。」（編輯：施燕飛）