MPs Ashton and Manly correct to speak at important Free Meng Wanzhou event | Op-Ed
Written by: Ellen Judd
The decisions made by two MPs, Niki Ashton (NDP) and Paul Manly (Green Party), to speak on the Free Meng Wanzhou panel this week brings welcome light to bear on a case with defining importance for law, trade and Canada’s role in the world. The implications are not limited to Canada-China relations, strained as these are, or even to Canada-US relations They touch upon a fraying international balance and how this impacts our lives and work in perilous times.
The substantive issue behind Meng Wanzhou’s detention is Huawei’s trade with Iran despite the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in early 2018 and the restoration of its sanctions against Iran. The US requested the extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou while she was in transit through the Vancouver airport in late 2018. A number of other nations through which she had recently passed had already declined the US request to extradite her.
The characterization of the charge against her as being a commercial crime, and the specific and technical details of the ensuing and ongoing proceedings—on jurisdiction, on communications in Hong Kong, on the legality of the CBSA accessing her electronic devices, and more—have tended to obscure the underlying political issue, with the misleading effect of making this request for extradition appear legitimate.
As we debate the rule of law in this case, it is good to remember both the contribution law can make in social life and its frailty as a human creation. We are sometimes fortunate in having a rule of law that recognizes its limitations. As Niki Ashton’s parliamentary petition e-2857 notes, one nation’s unilateral sanctions need not be viewed as legitimate, and within Canadian rule of law there is legal discretion to decline extradition.
Another of the key issues lying behind Meng Wanzhou’s detention is the economic rise of China and the US response to this, one that is particularly targeting Huawei. The detention of Meng Wanzhou consequently raises economic questions. A labour movement response has been to advocate for a restoration of positive trade and economic ties with China. Canada’s historic focus and strength in telecommunications makes Huawei an attractive partner, with potential for good jobs that could be innovative, socially connected, green and provide a transition from building and exporting arms.
In addition to the economic benefit for Canada, a labour movement solidarity response can also see the benefit that would come to China’s working people. This requires looking beyond only the US-China frame to see a larger and more complex picture of China. At the same time as China is marking a strong and sustained economic rise, Premier Li Keqiang spoke in May of more than 600 million Chinese at an economic level of national concern. The road forward is driven by this internal imperative. It calls for expanding further in science, technology and innovative production, a step in which Huawei has a leading role.
The freeing of Meng Wanzhou is a choice available to Canada that offers to move forward on multiple specific and challenging issues. More than that, resolving these resolutely and visibly will contribute to mending a corner of our desperately frayed global fabric. As part of a world beset by a raging pandemic, climate change, economic loss and rising militarism, this is an opportunity to act decisively.
Ellen Judd is a Distinguished Professor and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. She studied in China in the 1970s and conducted anthropological field research in rural and migrant China from the 1980s.
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