Commending Government of Canada for Upholding Rule of Law and Expressing Concern Over Actions By Government of the People's Republic of China

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution commending the Government of Canada for upholding the rule of law and expressing concern about China's use of hostage diplomacy.

I thank Chairman Engel for cosponsoring this resolution with me. As always, we work in a very bipartisan way on this committee.

This resolution recognizes Canada's help with the extradition of Huawei Technologies' chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. It also expresses concern with China's retaliatory and hostile actions against Canadian citizens detained in China.

China's hostage diplomacy is abhorrent. As retaliation for Canada's arrest of Ms. Meng, Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China since last year. They have been denied due process and have been subjected to harsh conditions, such as limited consular access, no attorney representation, and lengthy interrogations. Meanwhile, Ms. Meng has received proper treatment in Canadian custody and is currently released on bail.

The cases show the stark contrast between Canada's commitment to the rule of law and China's.

I commend Canada and regret that Canadian citizens are paying the price of China's malfeasance. Canada's citizens must be released immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I thank the people of Canada for standing with us to uphold the rule of law and assist in the extradition of Huawei's CFO, who is accused of willfully violating United States sanctions to proliferate technology to Iran. It is unacceptable that the Chinese Communist Party is punishing innocent Canadian citizens to interfere in this criminal process.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this and stand in solidarity with Canada. Huawei is creeping around the world with 5G technology. Everywhere we see One Belt, One Road, we see 5G being planted down in these countries. They literally steal data from these countries, now covering half of the globe.

We are in a race with China, and we need to combat their espionage and intellectual property theft.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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