Canada’s opposition calls for tougher China stance

Canada’s main opposition leader called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be tougher on Beijing in resolving trade disputes between the two countries and securing the release of detained Canadians. Relations have deteriorated between China and Canada following the December arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, a top official in China’s telecom giant Huawei, who is wanted by the United States for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran.

“Trudeau must make it clear to China that there are consequences for actions,” Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer, who leads Trudeau in the polls ahead of next October’s parliamentary elections, said in a statement. He called on Trudeau to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit of global leaders in Osaka, Japan, and “make clear that there are consequences for arbitrarily detaining our citizens and abruptly blocking our agriculture exports.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trudeau said he’d spoken to Xi about the two detained Canadians, ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and consultant Michael Spavor. He gave few details about the interaction.