The latest Meng Wanzhou’s lawyers say at least part of their defence strategy will be on similar lines to those raised by ousted ambassador John McCallum: Arguing that U.S. political motives are behind her arrest, and that she didn’t do anything criminal under Canadian law. Mr. McCallum’s exit was announced on Jan. 26, four days after he voiced personal opinions to Chinese-language media about Canada’s detention of Ms. Meng, an executive at Chinese telecom firm Huawei. Mr. McCallum suggested she might have “quite good arguments” to avoid extradition to the United States on fraud charges, though he later apologized for wading into the legal case. Two weeks before he was fired, McCallum made similar comments in private to business leaders, The Globe and Mail reported. Opposition critics and an ex-diplomat suggested his views on the Huawei executive were not an off-script outburst, but part of a consistent message they think must have had some official approval. But when Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland explained the firing on Jan. 28, she said it was because he contradicted the government. “The central job of an ambassador is to represent accurately the government’s position. John didn’t do that and that is why his position was untenable,” Ms. Freeland said. For now, veteran diplomat Jim Nickel has taken over Mr. McCallum’s duties as ambassador, including efforts to free Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation for Ms. Meng’s arrest. Who’s who John McCallum: A veteran cabinet minister under the Liberal governments of the Chrétien-Martin era, Mr. McCallum brought a rich political pedigree – but not experience as a career diplomat – to the China ambassadorship when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave him the post in 2017. The 68-year-old inherited a messy period in Canada-China relations, complicated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Beijing. But on Jan. 26, he was fired by Mr. Trudeau after a furor over his remarks about Ms. Meng’s detention. Profile: Who was John McCallum and what was his strategy? Meng Wanzhou: The chief financial officer of Huawei was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 on behalf of U.S. prosecutors, who accuse her of lying to American financial institutions to do business in Iran despite U.S. sanctions on that country. The U.S. Justice Department has also indicted Huawei itself and some subsidiaries, accusing them of obstruction of justice, bank fraud, money laundering and other offences. The Americans have officially asked Canada to extradite Ms. Meng, who denies the allegations against her. Until her extradition case is heard, she is free on bail, but ordered to stay in the Vancouver area. Explainer: Meng Wanzhou, Huawei and the story so far Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor: Two Canadians, an ex-diplomat and an entrepreneur, respectively, were detained on Dec. 10 in China and accused of endangering national security. The detentions, and other actions targeting Canadians in China, were an apparent retaliation for Ms. Meng’s arrest. Mr. McCallum had consular access to both men and was key to the Canadian effort to secure their release. Story continues below advertisement Explainer: A who's who of the Canadians detained in China Jim Nickel: Mr. McCallum’s replacement as Canada’s interim ambassador to China is a career diplomat who joined the foreign service in 1991. The 59-year-old Saskatchewan native has served in posts across Asia over the decades, most recently in Beijing, where he was the deputy head of mission. Background: The new ‘steady hand at the tiller’ in Beijing What McCallum said Open this photo in gallery Jan. 18, 2019: John McCallum arrives to brief members of the Foreign Affairs committee in Ottawa, four days before his controversial news conference in Markham, Ont. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press JAN. 22: ‘STRONG ARGUMENTS’ Mr. McCallum’s troubles started on Jan. 22 at a news conference in Markham, Ont., with Chinese-language media. There, he offered a personal opinion on Ms. Meng’s extradition, suggesting that she might be able to persuade a Canadian court that the U.S. case against her was politically motivated and that she should not be extradited there: I think she has quite good arguments on her side. One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there’s an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there’s the issue of Iran sanctions, which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge. The Trump remarks he was referring to were from December, when the U.S. President told Reuters news agency he might intervene in the Meng case if it would help secure a Sino-American trade deal. Mr. McCallum went on to suggest a deal between Washington and Beijing could bring Ms. Meng back to China in exchange for the release of Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig, the two Canadians detained in China: And part of the deal would be that they would no longer seek her extradition. And we would hope if the U.S. made such a deal, part of the deal would be also to release the two Canadians. So that is an option, but that is more under the control of the United States. JAN. 24: THE APOLOGY Mr. McCallum’s news conference drew condemnation from former Canadian diplomats and opposition-party leaders who called for him to be fired, though the Prime Minister continued to defend him. On Jan. 24, Mr. McCallum apologized and said he had misspoken: I regret that my comments with respect to the legal proceedings of Ms. Meng have created confusion. I misspoke. These comments do not accurately represent my position on this issue. JAN. 26: EXIT MCCALLUM justin trudeau Open this photo in gallery Jan. 25: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, speaks at a Liberal candidate's nomination meeting in Quebec City. Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press On Jan. 26, Mr. Trudeau issued a brief statement announcing Mr. McCallum would be leaving his post, but did not explain why: Last night I asked for and accepted John McCallum’s resignation as Canada’s Ambassador to China.<doc-sep>Freeland: McCallum turfed because he didn’t toe government comms line on China Article content OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says John McCallum was fired as Canada’s ambassador to China because he didn’t toe the government’s line on the arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executive. McCallum apologized last week for misspeaking about the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States, which wants to extradite her on fraud charges. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Freeland: McCallum turfed because he didn’t toe government comms line on China Back to video He was then fired after telling a Vancouver newspaper it would be “great for Canada” if the United States dropped its extradition request for Meng. Freeland says McCallum’s comments were inconsistent with the position of the government, which is that Meng is the subject of a legal proceeding that is not politically motivated. She says that made it untenable for McCallum to continue in the job. She says the government remains focused on gaining the release of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, who have been arrested on vague suspicions of violating Chinese national security.<doc-sep>The Man Behind McCallum’s Controversial Press Conference That Led to His Removal as Canada’s Ambassador to China News Analysis TORONTO/OTTAWA—For John McCallum, Canada’s former ambassador to China and self-proclaimed “son-in-law of China,” the fiasco that culminated in his resignation started with a now-infamous press conference with a group of Chinese-language media in the Toronto area on Jan. 22. During the event, McCallum weighed in on the case of arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou and said her extradition to the United States wouldn’t be a happy outcome for Canada. McCallum’s comments at the 40-minute news conference, which was attended by a select group of Chinese-language media including the Chinese state-owned Xinhua News Agency and CCTV, generated not only shockwaves but massive attention in Canada and beyond. Some, such as National Post columnist Andrew Coyne, suggested Canada’s envoy seemed “to be speaking for the government of China in Canada.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked McCallum to step down on Jan. 26. The resignation comes amidst a diplomatic crisis with China over the Meng case. Questions remain as to what was behind that press conference, the setting chosen, and why it focused only on certain Chinese media. Following the press conference, after reporters were dismissed, McCallum was the guest speaker at a forum on Canada-China relations held at the same venue attended by some members of the Toronto Chinese community. Taking a look at the man who organized these events and his relationship with McCallum and the Chinese regime may shed more light on the issue. The press conference was organized by Tao (Thomas) Qu and the Canada China Guanxi Council. Qu is the co-founder and executive president of the council. “Guanxi” means “relationship” in English. The council’s main task is to “pay attention to the two countries societal developments” and “to push the Canadian government to come out with different kinds of policies favourable to China,” according to a Chinese media report on Qu’s speech at a news conference in November 2016 announcing the plan to launch the organization. The Canada China Guanxi Council is not a federally registered lobby group. Qu, a retired employee of Ontario Power Generation, came to Canada from China in 1988 to pursue graduate studies. Over the years, he has founded and worked as an executive member of a number of organizations in Toronto’s Chinese community that are known to take pro-Beijing positions. He is also involved in several initiatives supported by the Chinese Communist Party. “Qu has been active to organize events and create Chinese organizations that are clearly controlled by the Chinese regime. He has been very supportive of the Chinese regime for many years,” said Sheng Xue, a Chinese-born Canadian author and Chinese affairs political commentator based in the Toronto area. Beijing’s Strategy of Using Chinese Organizations Sheng said that since its inception in 1949, the Chinese regime has made it a principle to cultivate a global “poisonous” web of people and Chinese organizations who support and sympathize with the regime at critical times. Chen Yonglin, a former Chinese diplomat who defected to Australia, has described a similar operating policy by Beijing. He said the regime often sets up different groups to control the Chinese community in Canada and influence the Canadian government. According to Chen, who was first secretary at the Chinese consulate in Sydney until 2005, the Chinese organizations first focus on issues that members of the Chinese community care about. “But the real purpose is to further the interests of the Chinese regime in Canada and to lobby the Canadian government,” he said. These organizations are usually run by just a handful of people, Chen noted. Many have overlapping members and embellished membership totals, and they work under umbrella groups to make them sound credible, he said. He added that another primary goal of Beijing in using these organizations is to intimidate the “five target groups”: Tibetan exiles, Taiwanese, Uighur Muslims, democracy activists, and most of all, adherents of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong), a spiritual discipline persecuted in China. Qu helped create and now holds—or in some cases used to hold—executive positions in a number of Chinese community organizations besides the Canada China Guanxi Council. Some of these include founding board member as well as past president and chairman of the board of the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada (CPAC), vice-president of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO), founding executive vice president of the Chinese Canadian Liberal Association, founding president of Durham Chinese Canadian Culture Centre, and vice-president of the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham. Advocacy of Pro-Beijing Issues Qu has been at the forefront of a number of initiatives and groups in the Chinese community that are pro-Beijing. As reported previously by The Epoch Times, a post about the CTCCO—of which Qu is currently vice-president—on the Chinese regime’s websites states: “Whenever there is something against China’s interests, CTCCO will organize parades to protest or use media to protect the image of China … such as [the time] they protested the mayor of Saint John who raised the Tibetan separatists flag at City Hall on the day when Premier Zhu Rong Ji arrived.” CTCCO also protested the Dalai Lama’s visit to Canada in 2010 and worked to stop a motion by the City of Toronto in support of Falun Dafa in 2004. In February 2017, then-consul general Xue Bing of the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto attended the 15th inauguration ceremony of the executives of CTCCO and presented a letter of appointment to each newly appointed executive, according to online Chinese records. In 2014, the organization held a welcome dinner for the head of China’s Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, a key part of Beijing’s espionage and control apparatus. Again in 2014, Qu was among the speakers at a Toronto District School Board hearing who, as a representative of the CTCCO, defended keeping the board’s partnership with the Confucius Institute, a network of educational establishments used by Beijing to infiltrate civil and political society and spread its soft power and influence. He was also seen acting as an organizer and directing others who spoke in support of the institute.<doc-sep>But on Friday he was quoted as saying it would be "great for Canada" if the US dropped the request.<doc-sep>
Share this Story: MARIN: McCallum no stranger to controversy MARIN: McCallum no stranger to controversy Article content John McCallum was fired as ambassador for Canada in China late Friday and it was made public on Saturday. It’s a good thing he was forced to walk the plank. His professional public career can be best characterized as jumping from one frying pan to another. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or MARIN: McCallum no stranger to controversy Back to video His latest lapses in judgment were opining that top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou had a good chance of beating her extradition to the United States. He used his 8th life. That was Wednesday. McCallum apologized for “misspeaking” late Thursday only to lurch into misspeaking again on Friday by saying it would be “great” if the United States abandoned its attempt to extradite Meng. That spelled the end for McCallum. McCallum was never a shining light in government. He had more of a bull in a china shop kind of presence. The gaffe-prone McCallum was once barred from an Air Canada flight when he was defence minister because he had too much to drink. Article content Once the story was made public, he swore off booze. “Zero alcohol” we were told, after this “wake-up” call. Sure enough, all of six days later he was caught drinking in Prague while attending a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with his then-boss Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. As defence minister he also goofed for saying he hadn’t heard of the Dieppe raid during the Second World War. McCallum was dumped from cabinet by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 when Trudeau executed somewhat of a purge of the old guard, including former Liberal opposition leader Stéphane Dion. That’s when McCallum was shipped to China. We hadn’t heard much from him lately until he decided to comment in the Chinese language media in Markham Wednesday that Meng had quite good arguments to make before a judge, including the “political involvement by comments from Donald Trump on her case.” A classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. Article content We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or What about John McCallum weighing-in on her case? Although McCallum is not a lawyer, but a career economist, he continued to offer out free legal advice. He insisted that the extra-territorial aspect of Meng’s case as well as the fact it involves the Iran sanctions that Canada is not part of could greatly assist her. He also provided the assurance that even if she were to lose her case, not to worry because it could be appealed and would “take years because she would have the right to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.” The sub judice rule is very much part of our system of law. The rule prohibits politicians from commenting on ongoing cases before the courts. Surely it also extends to political appointees representing our country. The rule exists to shield the courts from political influence. Article content China is a good example where politics trumps the rule of law. They not have the sub judice rule and the communist party controls the court. Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland have been very clear in their messaging to China that we have an independent judiciary that is protected from politics. More On This Topic GUNTER: Trudeau had no choice but to fire McCallum BONOKOSKI: PM finally punts Canada’s ambassador to China OPINION: McCallum's remarks go beyond being pro-Beijing - they're un-Canadian “With respect to Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Canada is conducting a fair, unbiased and transparent legal proceeding. There has been no political involvement in this process. Canada respects its international legal commitments, including by honouring its extradition treaty with the United States,” Freeland spokesman Adam Austen said in a statement. Article content Then comes charging McCallum, undermining the government’s position. He’s just given ammunition to China and further imperiled the situation of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor. They appear to have been apprehended to pressure Canada to release Meng. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team.