China has been on the news quite frequently over the course of this year, due to a number of reasons. The coronavirus pandemic started in the Wuhan province in China and Chinese troop deployments along Indian and Russian borders led to diplomatic and military tensions in the region. President Trump has been vocal about his disdain for Chinese authorities. In the past couple of days, rising tensions between Canada and China have also been thrust into the limelight.
THE ORIGINS OF THE DISPUTE – MENG WANZHOU
The root cause of tense relations between the two nations can be traced back to the month of December in 2018, when Canadian officials detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Wanzhou is the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei. She was arrested on December 1, 2018 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at the request of the United States. It was stated in a Canadian courthouse that Wanzhou was “charged with conspiracy to defraud multiple international institutions.” The arrest was met with sharp criticism from China, which called on Canada to release the executive. These allegations were denied by Wanzhou and her legal counsel. Canadian prosecutors said that the charges filed against Wanzhou were based on a 2013 Reuters report about the company’s close ties to Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech, which attempted to sell U.S. equipment to Iran, despite U.S. and European Union embargoes.
After attending a bail hearing from December 7 to 11, 2018, Wanzhou was released on a $10 million bail that was granted with conditions, including electronic surveillance. She was required to hand over her passports, of which seven were listed in her court records. Meng was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracies to commit bank and wire fraud by the United States government.
The issue revolves largely around U.S. and China relations — and Canada is caught in the middle.
CHINESE RETALIATION – MEAT BAN
The Chinese government did not take this affront to one of their major businesses lightly. They strongly criticized the Canadian government for this arrest, claiming it was arbitrary and lacked any legal foundations. They also imposed embargoes on Canadian exports to China. Chinese authorities imposed a ban on the entry of meat products like pork and beef, after supposedly finding traces of a banned animal feed additive called ractopamine in a shipment of pork claiming to be from Canada. However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the export certificate used by the shipment was fake, suggesting the shipment wasn’t actually from Canada.
But the ban remained in place and has been costing Canadian agricultural producers, who export roughly 20% of their pork to China, making it the second-largest market for Canadian pork products. However, in a statement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Chinese authorities lifted this ban in November 2019.
CHINESE RETALIATION – CANADIAN CITIZEN FACES DEATH PENALTY
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg (born 1982) is a Canadian citizen and grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Schellenberg had been jailed twice in Canada for a drug crime before being arrested in China. According to 2012 court documents, Schellenberg had previously suffered from a femoral injury at work, and began to use pain medications to relieve pain and became addicted.
Schellenberg was initially sentenced to 15 years in November 2018 after being convicted of playing a central role in a methamphetamine smuggling operation in China. In January, 2019, he was awarded the death penalty by China. Canada has condemned the sentencing, Prime Minister Trudeau claiming that there is no basis for the death penalty and that it was applied arbitrarily by the Chinese government. The timing of the death penalty strongly suggests that it might have been a response to Wanzhou’s arrest, which Chinese authorities have since denied.
CHINESE RETALIATION – MICHAEL SPAVOR AND MICHAEL KOVRIG
In addition to sentencing Schellenberg to death, China also arrested Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in what the Canadian government has described as retaliation for the Huawei CFO’s arrest in 2018.
Michael Spavor is a Canadian consultant whose work is primarily based in North Korea. He is director of an organization that promotes investment and tourism in North Korea called Paektu Cultural Exchange. Michael Kovrig is a Canadian former diplomat who worked for the International Crisis Group, a transnational, pro-peace think tank.
The two Canadians have been held in China since December 2018. Both men have been charged with “spying on national secrets” and providing intelligence for foreign powers. This arrest came rather suspiciously just days after Wanzhou’s arrest in Canada in December 2018.
LOOKING BACK AT THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS…
Relations began to crumble between Canada and China beginning the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 at the behest of the American government. This was followed by her trial in Canada and the establishment of bail at USD 10 million. In the same month, Chinese authorities detained two Canadian nationals, Spavor and Kovrig as suspected spies. In the following month of January 2019, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, another Canadian citizen who was arrested and held in China pending narcotics smuggling charges, was sentenced to death. In June 2019, Chinese authorities put a ban on Canadian meat imports after purportedly finding traces of ractopamine in a shipment. This ban was eventually lifted.
SO WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?
A Chinese diplomat warned Canada against granting asylum to Hong Kong democracy protesters on 15 October, 2020, adding that doing so could jeopardize the “health and safety” of Canadians living in the southern Chinese financial hub. This statement prompted a rebuke from Canada’s foreign minister, further escalating tensions between the two countries.
At a time when tensions across the world are at an all-time high, further fueled by a global pandemic ravaging nations, there does not seem to be any hope for de-escalation in the near future. Relation between China and several other countries – India, USA, Russia and now Canada have been deteriorating for a while now, especially since the beginning of this year.
China’s aggressive expansionist policies, nationalism and control over freedom of the press and speech have created a dystopic reality for the residents of China. This is further aggravated by Chinese aggression against countries with non-similar interests. For the foreseeable future, China’s threat is going loom large on the horizon.
