WASHINGTON — The United States and Canada moved Friday to ease tensions between them over the case of a top Chinese technology executive whose arrest by Canadian authorities has sparked a diplomatic crisis entangling the three countries.
Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States, which wants her extradited to face charges that she and her company misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
China detained two Canadians this week in apparent retaliation for Meng’s detention.
The case has set off a three-way diplomatic spat in which Canada is stuck in the middle. The dispute threatens to complicate ties between the U.S. and Canada, which were already testy. And President Donald Trump complicated matters by saying he might intervene in the case if it would help clinch a U.S. trade agreement with China — much to the consternation of Canadian officials.
In talks at the State Department on Friday, the U.S. and Canadian foreign and defense ministers put on a united front, speaking of historically deep ties and cooperation on issues such as Iraq, Ukraine, Syria and Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for China to release the Canadians, saying their detention was “unlawful” and “unacceptable” in comments aimed at calming concerns in Ottawa that the Trump administration might abandon it in pursuit of a deal with Beijing.
He also tried to downplay Trump’s suggestion that the Meng case could be connected to U.S.-China trade negotiations.
“The unlawful detention of two Canadian citizens is unacceptable. They ought to be returned,” Pompeo told reporters at a joint news conference after the talks he and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hosted with Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan. “We ask all nations of the world to treat other citizens properly, and the detention of these two Canadian citizens in China ought to end.”
Trump’s comment on Meng alarmed many in Canada who saw it as evidence the case has been politicized and that the U.S. is loosening its commitment to the rule of law and independent judiciary.
Trump has previously attacked Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over trade, and his suggestion that he could intervene in the Meng case contradicted Canadian officials who said the arrest was not political.
