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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Academics, ex-diplomats urge release of Canadians
Paektu Cultural Exchange director Michael Spavor talks during a Skype interview in Yanji, China, on March 2, 2017. Photo: AP
/ AFP, BEIJING
A group of more than 100 former diplomats and academics have signed an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping （習近平） calling for the release of two Canadians who have been detained on national security grounds.
Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were on Dec. 10 arrested for activities that “endanger China’s national security” — a phrase often used by Beijing when alleging espionage.
Their detentions are thought to be in retaliation for Canada’s arrest on a US request of Huawei Technologies Co （華為） chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou （孟晚舟）, who is facing fraud charges linked to violations of Iran sanctions.
The letter, written in English and Chinese, said that Kovrig and Spavor worked to improve understanding of China and to promote better relations with the world.
“Kovrig and Spavor’s detentions send a message that this kind of constructive work is unwelcome and even risky in China,” read the page-long letter, which had 143 signatories from 19 countries.
The letter comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and Beijing since Meng’s arrest.
A Chinese court last week sentenced a Canadian man to death for drug trafficking following a retrial, a drastic increase of his previous 15-year prison sentence.
Ottawa has warned its citizens about the risk of “arbitrary enforcement” of laws in China, which sparked off a tit-for-tat response in Beijing.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the letter.
“We would always encourage friends, allies to point out that Canada stands up for the rule of law and all countries should stand up for the rule of law,” Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.
“It’s a very clear principle that has served us well over the past decades, that we have systems of justice that are independent from political interference and Canada will always defend that,” he said.
The letter was signed by six former Canadian ambassadors to China — Fred Bild, Joseph Caron, Earl Drake, David Mulroney, Guy Saint-Jacques and Robert Wright — as well as former US ambassadors Gary Locke and Winston Lord, and Hong Kong’s last British governor Chris Patten.
Former ambassadors to China from Germany, Mexico, Britain and Sweden also lent their names, along with many of the world’s leading China academics.
China reacted angrily to the letter, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying （華春瑩） calling it a “great disrespect” that also interferes with China’s sovereignty and judicial process.
“It is a call to exert pressure, to demand the Chinese side to release two Canadian citizens who have been investigated by the relevant departments according to the law,” Hua told a regular media briefing.
“Do they want China’s 1.4 billion people to sign an open letter to the Canadian leader?” Hua said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
%http://www.taipeitimes.com/
Michael Kovrig, an adviser with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based non-governmental organization, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong on March 28 last year. Photo: AP
