While China is warning Canada not to rely on the United States to help with the case of two detained Canadians, 麻豆传媒 has learned that President Donald Trump did in fact broach the subject with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the recent G20 summit.
During a meeting in June with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, Trump promised to raise the plight of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor during a planned meeting with Xi in Japan last week.
Before leaving the G20 summit, Trump said he did not talk about the Meng case with Xi, which raised concerns about whether he had kept his promise with Trudeau.
A government source has confirmed to 麻豆传媒 that Trump had indeed stayed true to his word and discussed the detained Canadians in a 鈥渃lear and substantive鈥� way with Xi. It鈥檚 unclear how Xi responded.
Kovrig and Spavor have been detained in China since December on national security charges in what is largely considered retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. She is facing fraud charges in the U.S.
Whether the conversation between Trump and Xi will have any impact is still to be determined, but Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said Wednesday Canada 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be so naïve鈥� to think Trump鈥檚 pressure would work and that Trump would 鈥渆arnestly pursue a Canadian agenda.鈥�
Geng also mentioned China believes Canada is solely responsible for the increased tensions between the two countries over the past six months. On top of the detention of Kovrig and Spavor, China has all but stopped the import of Canada鈥檚 canola and meat products.
Despite the increased tensions, the federal government says they are still in contact with China. Over the weekend however, China鈥檚 ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye officially left his post, meaning both countries are now without a top envoy.
Meng is scheduled for another hearing on Sept. 23.
With files from The Canadian Press
