OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will not stop standing up for human rights in China — or calling out Beijing for its coercive approach to diplomacy.
Trudeau says that includes the situation in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy activists have been protesting a widely criticized national security law imposed on the territory by Beijing.
On Thursday, the Chinese ambassador to Canada warned Ottawa against granting asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing the situation, saying it amounts to interfering in its internal affairs.
Cong Peiwu said if Canada cares about 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong — and Canadian companies doing business there — it should support efforts to fight what he called fight violent crime.
Trudeau says that Canadians need to know their government will stand up for them around the world.
Trudeau has said that China is engaging in coercive diplomacy by imprisoning two Canadian men in retaliation for the arrest of a Chinese high-tech executive on an American extradition warrant.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2020.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Justin Trudeau accused Canada, not China, of engaging in coercive diplomacy,
