It’s now been more than a year since two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — were detained by Chinese authorities.
The arrests and seemingly fabricated charges against the two Canadians are in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport last year following an extradition request from the United States.
Meng remains under house arrest in the Vancouver area while her extradition hearing winds its way through the courts.
READ MORE: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou wins battle over documents ahead of extradition trial
The reason for Meng’s arrest — Huawei’s alleged misdealings with the Iranian government — seems almost inconsequential now since the fate of two Canadians is at stake.
In fact, word out of China this week is that the two Canadians will soon be tried and most certainly convicted of the espionage charges laid against them, after which they will face the dire consequences of the Chinese penal system.
READ MORE: China hints at trials for detained Canadians as pressure to release Wanzhou mounts
In Ottawa this week, the opposition parties pushed through a motion to form an all-party parliamentary committee to explore ways of freeing Kovrig and Spavor.
Former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley and former ambassador to China John McCallum are among the many Canadians who have petitioned the Trudeau government to cut a deal with the Chinese government.
Canada and China have had a somewhat acrimonious relationship of late because of China’s shoddy human rights record and its penchant for dumping cheap and substandard steel into the North American markets.
But things went from bad to worse quickly with Meng’s arrest last year.
China enacted economic sanctions against some Canadian goods and arrested Kovrig and Spavor on alleged espionage charges.
Apparently, there have been attempts through diplomatic channels to obtain the release of the Canadians, but to no success.
Any deal would most certainly involve Meng’s release, and that’s sure to cause some consternation among Canadian and American officials.
Although the Americans have expressed concern about the detention of Kovrig and Spavor, they really haven’t leveraged their diplomatic muscle to assist the Canadian government in its quest to gain their release.
The fact is Kovrig and Spavor are collateral damage in a diplomatic shootout between China and the United States, but that’s not our fight.
It’s past time for the Canadian government to end this diplomatic lunacy and bring them home.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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