China’s foreign ministry on Dec. 9 summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a “strong protest” over the arrest. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad that the United States had made an “unreasonable demand” on Canada to detain Meng while she was passing through Vancouver, China’s foreign ministry said.
“The actions of the U.S. seriously violated the lawful and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizen, and by their nature were extremely nasty,” Le told Branstad, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who, at the time of the arrest, was in a meeting on trade negotiations with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Argentina, didn’t have foreknowledge of the action.
Regime Has ‘Difficulty Understanding’ Rule of Law
North American commentators were swift to point out the difference between the judicial systems in liberal democracies such as Canada and the United States, and under one-party-rule in China.Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the regime’s threats against Canada won’t work.
“Perhaps because the Chinese state controls its judicial system, Beijing sometimes has difficulty understanding or believing that courts can be independent in a rule-of-law country. There’s no point in pressuring the Canadian government. Judges will decide,” Paris wrote on Twitter on Dec. 8
Trade Talks Separate
Meanwhile, U.S. officials stressed the trade talks with China are a separate issue to the arrest.White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News on Dec. 10 that Trump didn’t know about the arrest when he met with Xi on Dec. 1.
Kudlow similarly described the matter as a law enforcement issue.
“I don’t know how it’s going to turn out...It seems to me there’s a trade lane... and there’s a law enforcement lane,” Kudlow said. “They’re different channels, and I think they will be viewed that way for quite some time.”