The recent comments by China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying following the release of Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou from Canadian custody, have underlined just how far Beijing is now prepared to go in defence of its citizens overseas.
When Australians travel internationally we are frankly informed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that if we transgress local laws and find ourselves in jail there is not a great deal they can do about it.
Not so China.
If they are important enough (and Meng obviously is) Beijing will go to any lengths to protect their citizens while ensuring the country that dares to detain them is punished until, in the beloved parlance of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, it “corrects its mistakes”.
Canada quite properly detained Meng after the US issued an extradition request for her to stand trial on alleged bank fraud charges, but legal processes had hardly begun before two Canadian citizens unlucky enough to be in China at the time, were scooped up and jailed.
The two, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were said to have confessed their guilt to charges of espionage, but were miraculously pardoned and allowed to go home within hours of the US and Canada backing down and ending the case against Meng.
Hua put it bluntly when she stated that Canada should "draw lessons," from China's show of strength and “act according to its own interests”.
In other words, if you mess with our citizens in your country we’ll just grab some of yours off our streets and hold them hostage until you see sense.
Beijing’s loyal mouthpiece, the Global Times newspaper then editorialised that Meng’s release was an opportunity to improve “the toxic political rhetoric that was poisoning” relations with the US and Canada.
The world does need better relations between the major powers. A little more global harmony and openness would help address the immediate issues of the COVID pandemic and climate change as well as ageing populations and access to clean water, which are going to press upon us in the not too distant future.
However, this cannot happen as a result of what has come to be termed wolf warrior diplomacy and the rubbishing of recognised international norms of law.
If China is to play the gangster on the international stage, is it any wonder that countries are going to take measures to protect themselves by forming alliances and buying sophisticated weaponry?
Maybe this is a something from which Beijing could “draw lessons” and perhaps even “correct its mistakes”.
