Remarks by Vice President Pence and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada in Joint Press Statements | Ottawa, Canada
Q And my follow-up question for both of you is on the Canadians detained in China. Mr. Vice President, can you tell us exactly what the United States is doing to help — assist in securing the release of these two men? And what is the likelihood the United States would withdraw its extradition request for Ms. Meng?
And, Mr. Trudeau, what more could the United States do? And would you like to see the United States withdraw the extradition request for Ms. Meng as a part of this? Thank you.
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Well, the United States, as I’ve said, has stood strong with Canada on the unlawful detention of the two Canadian citizens. The Prime Minister and I spoke about it extensively today. And I can assure you that we’ll continue to stand firmly in that position until those citizens are freed and restored to this nation.
Let me say President Trump will be traveling, along with the Prime Minister, to the G20 in the weeks ahead. We anticipate he will be meeting with President Xi there. We’re in the midst of significant discussions over our trading relationship.
But I can assure you, in that context, and going forward, we’re going to continue to urge China to release the Canadian citizens even while we deal with larger economic and structural issues between the United States and China.
We are standing with Canada in this effort. We respect and are grateful for the strong stand for the rule of law that Canada has taken with regard to the Huawei executive. And we’ll continue to engage on the issue.
PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU: As people well know, the preoccupation that this government has — that all Canadians have — with the situation of the two Canadians detained in China in an arbitrary manner is significant, and we have reached out to allies around the world to make sure that everyone stands together. And the United States has been particularly strong and vocal in its condemnation of these arbitrary detentions of Canadians and in their support of Canada.
But, indeed, we’re in a moment where like-minded nations — like Canada and the United States and many of our European and international partners — have expressed their dismay with the way China is stepping forward more assertively and indeed aggressively on the international stage. And we are all standing together to insure that the rules are followed, that our values are upheld, and that China understands that the economies and democracies of the West are united in our condemnation of these arbitrary detentions for — in attempt to gain political leverage.