“Free Meng for Canada”                                    （中文）   

We, the undersigned Canadians, urge you, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to consider the prompt release of Mme. Meng Wanzhou, for the best interest of Canada.

1. In December, 2018, Mme. Meng, a Chinese citizen and CFO of the Chinese Huawei company, was arrested by the Canadian authorities in Vancouver at an extradition request of the U.S. government.
2. The unlawful arrest of Mme. Meng immediately triggered anger and a chain of strong actions by China, aggravating the fate of two Canadians in China, Michael Korvrig and Michael Spavor. The continuous detention of Mme. Meng has also cost billions of sales of Canadian goods to China, and the loss of thousands of Canadian jobs.
3. We believe Canada’s arrest and detention of Mme. Meng was politically premediated and high-pressured by the U.S. Trump Administration. In addition to much evidence in this regard, John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to President Trump, has confirmed with CTV News that Trump used Canada as a political pawn in trade issues with China.  Therefore, the lawfulness of the implementation of Meng’s arrest by the Canadian government becomes questionable.  
4. We are also concerned with the role of the “Five-Eyes” behind the Meng case.  As an Anglo-Saxon race-based intelligence and foreign policy alliance led by the United States, Five-Eyes, of which Canada is a member, has become an active instrument of Washington’s containment strategy against the peaceful rise of China.  You must be fully aware that Canada’s arrest of Mme. Meng was part of the alliance’s campaign to curtail Huawei, which is the world’s largest 5G network provider. In fact, five months before Meng’s arrest at the Vancouver airport, Five Eyes officials were meeting in Ottawa, the Canadian national capital, planning to contain Huawei’s global growth.
5. Succumbing to the US political pressure and subjecting our legal and policing instruments to the American baton not only has diminished the Canadian values such as fairness and neutrality, but also jeopardized the Canadian diplomatic independence. In addition, it has compromised the integrity of “the rule of law” Canada has claimed to uphold.
6. Globally, the case is also putting Canada in a disastrous geo-strategic position.  China is Canada’s neighbour across the Pacific. Having 40 times as many people as Canada, China is the world’s biggest manufacturer, market, and source country of investment. It is growing soon to become the largest economy on earth.  China is or will be leading the world in many aspects of human development: contributing to the world’s economy, eliminating poverty, advancing education, science and technology, protecting environment, maintaining peace and stability, and of course fighting the global Covid-19 pandemic.  For Canada to challenge China without good ground and reasons, is very dangerous.
7. History demonstrates China has been a non-aggressive civilization.  For at least 650 years since its Ming Dynasty, it has not invaded and occupied other countries, not to mention colonization.  For the last 40 years, it is the only UN Permanent Security Council member country that has not had a war.  The Chinese character upholds respect, harmony, and humility.  In Canada, this character is clearly manifested by millions of Chinese Canadians and other Asian Canadians sharing similar cultural values.
8. We need to point out that China has always been friendly to Canada.  It has never interfered with Canada’s internal affairs, or even commented on our notorious history of colonialist mistreatment of the indigenous people, and discriminatory treatment of tens of thousands of Chinese railway workers.  Thanks to the good work of many great Canadians including your father, especially the legendary Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, who sacrificed his life for China’s anti-fascist war, China and most Chinese had been holding Canada and Canadians very dear at heart.
9. We need to point out that the 1.4 billion Chinese share a collective memory of having suffered from the invasion, bullying and humiliation by western powers for a century since 1840. The arrest of Mme. Meng has unfortunately evoked their sad memory, and made them recall about “the Century of Humiliation”, especially the extraterritorial rights the west imperialists imposed on China then.  The Chinese people are now viewing us as an accomplice of the U. S. white-supremacists, imperialists, and colonialists who want to continue the old way of bullying.  This was never the case until the arrest of Mme. Meng.
10. In June 2020, Michael Korvrig’s wife Vina Nadjibulla eagerly pleaded to you for the release of Mme. Meng so that her husband can return home.  She got an expert legal opinion that the Canada’s Justice Minister can set Mme. Meng free.   
11. In the same month, 19 prominent Canadian leaders wrote to ask you to consider the release of Mme. Meng Wanzhou.  These include many former federal ministers, political leaders, journalists, and scholars.  Leading the initiative are Mme. Louise Arbour, former Justice of Supreme Court of Canada and former Canadian Justice Minister Allan Rock.
12. Again, in September 2020, more than 100 former Canadian diplomats sent you a letter, asking you to free Mme. Meng so as to bring back the two Michaels as well as rescuing the Canada-China relationship. Leading this group was Mr. Gar Pardy, Canada's former Director-General of Consular Affairs. “China looms very large in the scheme of things for everything that goes on in the world”, said Mr. Pardy, “If you don’t have a relationship with China, there is not much of an ability to do anything.”   
13. Canada is an independent country.  We Canadians are from every corner of the world. For our multicultural society, our diplomatic and legal independence, our economic prosperity and our national security, the interest of Canada and well-being of Canadians must be placed above our relationship with the United States. 

For Canada’s present and long-term interests, we await you to make a wise decision, i.e., to free Mme. Meng Wangzhou.

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Below is some of the background and supporting material.  Please click open the links:

“Trump says he would intervene for Canada if it helped him win a trade deal with China”    https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/trump-says-he-d-intervene-in-huawei-cfo-s-case-for-trade-deal-1.1181880

“Bolton: Trump viewed Canada as a political pawn in trade issues with China”: https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/politics/2020/10/10/1_5140361.amp.html

“The integrity of Canadian justice system being compromised”:   https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-meng-wanzhou-extradition-1.5744799

“Canada’s membership in the Five Eyes alliance promoting conflict with China” https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/canadas-membership-in-the-five-eyes-alliance-driving-conflict-with-china

“Wife of Michael Kovrig says he is a pawn in a geopolitical game”: https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/news/canada-has-power-to-end-meng-extradition-and-bring-canadians-home-from-china-kovrigs-wife-says/wcm/1558bc40-7220-4827-aca6-932642328869?fb_comment_id=2806627629448007_2808509555926481

“19 prominent Canadians with their names urging the Release of Mme. Meng”: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6956527-Letter-to-Prime-Minister.html

 “Over 100 Canadian ex-diplomats urge Trudeau to free Huawei CFO”: http://www.ecns.cn/news/2020-09-25/detail-ihaakvpz4254560.shtml

“Canada’s China policy should begin with release of Meng Wanzhou”: https://www.ottawalife.com/article/canadas-china-policy-should-begin-with-release-of-meng-wanzhou