Meng Wanzhou Photo: VCG

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, for the first time, disclosed that the US had asked "dozens" of countries to detain Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou but only Canada accepted the request, and the decision has brought huge damage to China-Canada relations. Chinese experts said the Canadian government should safeguard their country's judicial independence, rather than let Washington's political pressure "pillage" the legal system of Canada.

In a wide-ranging interview published on Friday with Canadian media The Globe and Mail, Lu Kang, director-general of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, disclosed this information.

Meng was detained in Vancouver on December 1, 2018, after the US issued a warrant for her arrest. In the weeks prior, Meng travelled to France, Britain, Ireland, Poland, Singapore, Japan and Belgium. Lu said that many of the countries that the US spoke to were "American allies" who have extradition treaties with Washington, according to the Globe and Mail.

"Do you know how many governments the US had requested to extradite Madame Meng Wanzhou before the Canadian Government? More than dozens," and the Canadian government should answer why Canada is the only one to execute the ridiculous request made by the US while the others didn't, Lu said in the interview.

Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Saturday that it seems like the Canadian government has totally given up the country's judicial independence and sovereignty to the US, and China needs to learn that it cannot underestimate the loyalty and compliance that the Five Eye Alliance members show to the US.

The unusual cooperation or submissiveness that Ottawa showed to Washington has actually harmed the country's own interests, as it was totally unnecessary for Canada to sacrifice so many interests of China-Canada ties to serve US political and strategic purposes, Li said, adding that hopefully, the information could help the Canadian public and the lawyer team for Meng's case to learn more about the political facts behind the "lawsuit."  

The Globe and Mail asked Lu to provide evidence and a source of the information, but Lu said "Actually it's for the Canadian side to tell the whole picture to the Canadian public."

A Beijing-based expert on international relations who requested anonymity told the Global Times that it would be unprofessional and inappropriate if China named those countries who turned down US request to arrest Meng. 

"Because this would create unnecessary problems to bother those countries who uphold the bottom line of their own judicial independence, and the US would be humiliated and get angry" if China tells the world "how many US allies don't want to serve US hegemonic requests, and only Ottawa unwisely showed its unique loyalty to Washington," the expert said.

Li said before the recovery of China-US ties and a policy shift from the US on Huawei, Ottawa would unlikely make a new positive decision independently on the case of Meng, and "we hope the Canadian government remembers it is an independent country, and its judicial and diplomatic independence should not be pillaged by political pressure from the US."