US Vice-President Mike Pence has offered Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Washington’s full support in the effort to free two Canadian citizens arbitrarily detained in China, reported The Star.
During his visit to Ottawa to advocate for the ratification of the new NAFTA deal, Pence delivered Washington’s strongest show of support to Canada to date, issuing a joint statement that called on Beijing to release Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were arrested for spying, following Canada’s assistance to the US in prosecuting Huaiwei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou.
Pence told reporters that US President Donald Trump may raise the matter of the two Canadians in his own talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan next month, linking their freedom to ongoing trade talks between the two nations.
“We will continue to urge China to release the Canadian citizens even while we deal with the larger structural and economic issues between the United States and China,” said Pence during a news conference.
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