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Trudeau says Canada will not bow to PRC’s ‘coercive diplomacy’

Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured, said in early November 2020 that his country would not cave to pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the case of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on a U.S. warrant almost two years ago.

The case has caused a diplomatic chill between Canada and the PRC, which soon after Meng’s arrest detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on espionage charges.

“We don’t believe in coercive diplomacy and … we actually deeply believe that if you start giving into that kind of pressure, you’ll leave yourself worse off for the long term,” Trudeau said in an interview during an online conference hosted by the Financial Times newspaper.

“China continues to think that they can just put enough pressure on us, and we will … give in. But that’s exactly the opposite of our position,” he said.

Meng has denied charges brought against her in the United States and is fighting extradition from house arrest in Vancouver.

In October 2020, Trudeau said he would continue to stand up against the PRC’s “coercive diplomacy” and human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

“We will stand up loudly and clearly for human rights all around the world, whether it is talking about the situation faced by the Uighurs, whether it is talking about the very concerning situation in Hong Kong, whether it’s calling out China for its coercive diplomacy,” Trudeau said at a news conference, adding that he was not looking to escalate tensions with the PRC.

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