Ambassador Dominic Barton said ‘there was a massive change’ in the relationship when Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December 2018
OTTAWA – Canada’s ambassador to China told MPs Wednesday evening there is a “chill” between the two countries and it began with the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Meng’s arrest was followed swiftly in China by the arrests of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and to a re-sentencing of Canadian Robert Schellenberg who was handed a death penalty in a hastily scheduled appeal hearing, after he had been sentenced to prison time months prior.“The first conversation I had there was probably one of the most unpleasant conversations I have ever had.”
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis questioned him extensively about his work with the consulting firm and said that made him the wrong choice for ambassador.Genuis said Barton’s work at McKinsey put him in a conflict of interest.Genuis focused on McKinsey’s consulting work for a Chinese company that constructed islands in the South China sea in an effort to expand the country’s territorial waters.
The three men have all been held in detention, while Meng has been on house arrest. She was arrested on a U.S. extradition request and a hearing on that case began last month.
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