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Canadian view of China worsens as row drags into second year
by Staff Writers
Montreal (AFP) Dec 11, 2019

Canada lawmakers rebuke Trudeau over China policy
Ottawa (AFP) Dec 11, 2019 - Canadian leader Justin Trudeau has been rebuked for his handling of a simmering dispute with China, with lawmakers voting against his government to set up a committee examining relations with Beijing.

Diplomatic relations between Canada and China hit rock bottom after last year's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Hangzhou in Vancouver.

Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were arrested in China just nine days later, in a move widely seen as retaliation for Meng's arrest.

Both men have languished in detention ever since and analysts say their fate is tied to Meng's, who will have a hearing next month in a US extradition case that could potentially last years.

The dispute has damaged trade between the two countries, with Beijing blocking billions of dollars worth of Canadian canola imports.

"We have had serious concerns with the prime minister's ability to govern in Canada's national interest on the world stage," Erin O'Toole, the international affairs spokesman for the opposition Conservative party, said after Tuesday's vote.

The committee -- to be composed of 12 lawmakers -- will sit from January and will have the power to call Trudeau and the Canadian ambassador to China as witnesses.

The Conservatives introduced the committee proposal to parliament on Monday, the anniversary of Kovrig and Spavor's arrests.

Trudeau's center-left administration was elected for a second term in September but lost its majority in parliament and relies on support from minor parties to pass laws.

Tuesday's vote was the government's first defeat in the House of Commons since its election.

Canadians have soured on China, according to a poll released Wednesday, as a diplomatic crisis over tit-for-tat detentions of a Chinese tech executive and two Canadians drags into a second year.

Two-thirds of 1,499 respondents surveyed in recent weeks by Angus Reid said they had an unfavorable view of Canada's second-largest trading partner, up from 51 percent in 2018.

Nine out of ten said they believe China cannot be trusted to uphold human rights and refrain from interfering politically in judicial matters.

"While the Trudeau government considers its options to resolve simmering tensions, Canadians are growing more frustrated with China," Angus Reid said a statement.

Relations between Canada and China hit rock bottom following the December 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou -- and China's detention just nine days later of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor.

Originally detained on a US warrant, Meng is out on bail awaiting an extradition hearing due to start in January. The US wants to put her on trial for allegedly lying to banks about violating Iran sanctions.

Kovrig and Spavor are languishing in China's opaque penal system, accused of gathering state secrets. Their case was handed to prosecutors this week for review.

Obtaining the pair's release has been a top priority of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, which is also concerned about a significant dropoff in bilateral trade.

But Canadian lawmakers think it is not enough and, in a rebuke late Tuesday, voted against his minority government to set up a committee to examine relations with Beijing.

The committee -- to be composed of 12 MPs -- will sit from January and will have the power to call Trudeau and the Canadian ambassador to China as witnesses.

Canadians, according to the Angus Reid poll, are conflicted about Meng's arrest after seeing the strain it has put on the relationship with China.

Half of respondents told Angus Reid it was the correct decision while the other half believe Canada should have resisted the US request to arrest Meng.

In the meantime, Ottawa continues to mull a US demand to block Huawei from supplying Canada's 5G networks over security concerns.

According to the poll, seven in ten Canadians believe Ottawa should not allow Huawei to sell equipment to domestic telecoms companies for their next-generation networks.


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AI judges and the brave new world of China's digital courts
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Artificial-intelligence judges, cyber-courts, and verdicts delivered on chat apps - welcome to China's brave new world of justice spotlighted by authorities this week. China is encouraging digitisation to streamline case-handling within its sprawling court system using cyberspace and technologies like blockchain and cloud computing, China's Supreme People's Court said in a policy paper. The efforts include a "mobile court" offered on popular social media platform WeChat that has already handled ... read more

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