Canada may have simply honored a routine extradition warrant, but it now finds itself in an unenviable tug of war between the US and China, as the two superpowers debate their trade deals.
Arresting Meng is no small matter — imagine if China detained Apple CEO Tim Cook. Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer after Samsung, is the poster child for China’s commercial might, and Meng is the daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei.
Canada simply may have honored a routine extradition warrant, but it finds itself in an unenviable tug of war between the US and China amid a trade war between the two superpowers. Canada reportedly reached a “ new level of frustration “ with US President Donald Trump after he expressed a willingness to politicize Meng’s case and use it as a bargaining chip to protect his country’s economic and national security interests. Ottawa is also bearing the brunt of Meng’s arrest after China detained two Canadians in apparent retaliation.
The consequences for Canada could be painful. The situation threatens to turn into yet another long-term foreign policy disaster for the relatively young and inexperienced government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It is still bruising from Saudi Arabia’s harsh retaliation after Canada criticized its human rights record in August.
To make matters worse, the imbroglio comes when the Trudeau government is trying to rev up trade and investment with China, partially to benefit from Beijing’s deteriorating economic relationship with the US.
