Canada should apply its Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention to free Meng Wanzhou
Green Party leader Annamie Paul.
Written by: William Dere
Canada along with 57 other countries have issued a declaration denouncing “state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political purposes.” The declaration was the work of François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s industry minister.
Canada obtained the support of the countries of the Five Eyes spy network, the G7 and the European Union. Champagne says the declaration is modelled on Article 5 of NATO which states that an attack on one of its countries is an attack on all 30 members. It is interesting that Champagne makes the link with NATO, as you will read later on.
NATO is a military alliance and Article 5 is meant to respond to armed attacks. By his declaration, Champagne is conditioning Canadians from the present Cold War to a possible hot war against China.
The North American Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 by the original 12 countries (US, UK, Canada, France, Denmark, Belgium, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Norway) as an alliance against the Soviet Union. It has recruited other countries and with the fall of the Soviet Union, it has poached some of the old Warsaw Pact countries to become a membership of 30. Article 5 was officially invoked by the US to attack and occupy Afghanistan after 9/11. NATO forces also bombed the former Yugoslavia, including the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999. Other military actions of NATO, led by the US included the bombing of Libya and Syria.
The underlying reason for this anti-arbitration declaration is Canada’s campaign for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor arrested by China in December 2018. As is the case with national security cases, China, as well as other countries has released little information. However, a splinter of light has been shed by the Global Times, English language media published by the People’s Daily in Beijing.
According to the GT, “Kovrig was accused of having used ordinary passport and business visa to enter China to steal sensitive information and intelligence through contacts in China since 2017, while Spavor was accused of being a key source to provide intelligence for Kovrig. They are suspected of crimes endangering China's national security, and have already been initiated public prosecution.”
What is significant is that Kovrig works for the International Crisis Group. The ICG is a spun off from the US Carnegie Foundation for International Peace. Most of its funding comes from NATO countries and it also receives corporate funding from Chevron, RBS and George Soros among others. With its head office in Brussels, same as NATO, it is a de facto think tank for the military alliance.
The ICG came to prominence during the armed conflict in the Balkans with its analysis calling for fast track entry into NATO and the EU for Bosnia, one of the key belligerents. ICG also waded into the Syrian conflict with a report in 2011 recommending US and Western military intervention. The ICG’s role in international conflicts is starting to come to light with the Kovrig case. What role Michael Kovrig plays as an employee of the ICG is not clear until his security case comes to a Chinese court.
The Meng Wanzhou case fall within the confines of the Canadian declaration against “ state-sponsor arbitrary detention for political purposes.” There are other security cases that a smart lawyer may try to apply this declaration for their client. One case is that of Qing Quentin Huang, a Canadian engineer under sub-contract to Irving Shipbuilding, which Canada has contracted to build its naval frigates. Huang was accused of passing secret to a foreign power, i.e. China. The case has been stayed but one cannot avoid linking Canada’s cold war strategy against China to this case.
Meng was detained and arrested by Canadian authorities on charges alleged violation of sanctions against Iran. A few days after Meng’s arrest the lawless former US president Donald Trump said he will intervene in the case if China agrees to a favourable trade deal with the US. Despite this politicization of the case, Meng is still subject to extradition to the US.
Another flagrant case where Canada and the UK should apply this “Declaration Against Arbitrary State-to-State Relations”, is the plight of Julian Assange. Assange is still being held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison by the British government, even after a judge rejected the American request for extradition on espionage charges. Assange, through Wikileaks reported on secret US military documents over a decade ago.
Again, we see the hypocrisy of Canadian and Western imperialist foreign policy
William Ging Wee Dere is the author of the award-winning “Being Chinese in Canada, The Struggle for Identity, Redress and Belonging.” (Douglas & McIntyre, 2019). He was a political organizer and a leading activist in the 2-decade movement for redress of the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act.
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