Analyst: China's arrest of Canadian 'not new' response
883 views · Published 17 December 2018 · 2:04 · Indexed 15 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(12 Dec 2018) Hong Kong - 12 December 2018 1. Pan and tilt from skyscrapers to political analyst Joseph Cheng 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Cheng, political analyst: “The response to the (former Canadian diplomat Michael) Kovrig case is not new. For example, a few years ago, some Japanese tourists were arrested in China for photographing outside Chinese naval facilities. These are basically diplomatic gestures and there is an awareness that these gestures may be made. For example, the Canadian British Columbian Forestry delegation’s visit to China has been cancelled, major American corporations have been trying to delay their corporate officials visits to China and so on. These incidents indicate the concern on the part of Western countries and their corporations that sometimes, some arrest may be made by the Chinese Authorities as a bargaining chip, as a kind of gesture.” 3. Various of Cheng talking to reporter 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Joseph Cheng, political analyst: “In the eyes of Beijing, it probably perceives that the United States and even other western countries are trying to exert pressure on China, trying to arrest the progress of China’s modernisation and Chinese leaders, at least at this stage, would like to indicate a strong response to satisfy the domestic audience, to appeal to nationalism within the country, and therefore it has been responding with the Kovrig arrest to indicate China’s hawkish position and readiness to confront the western countries.” ++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++ A political analyst on Wednesday said the detention of a former Canadian diplomat in China is probably a response to the perception that the West is trying to exert pressure on Beijing. “The response to the Kovrig case is not new," political analyst Joseph Cheng told The Associated Press. He added that Beijing "probably perceives that the United States and even other western countries are trying to exert pressure on China, trying to arrest the progress of China’s modernisation." China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had no information about a former Canadian diplomat detained in Beijing in apparent retaliation for Canada's arrest of a leading Chinese executive. While declining to confirm the detention of Michael Kovrig, ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the International Crisis Group, where Kovrig is a Hong-Kong-based analyst, was not registered in China and its activities in the country were illegal. Lu also repeated China's demand for the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, a leading executive with Chinese communications equipment maker Huawei, which has strong connections to the Chinese government and military. Kovrig was previously a diplomat in China and elsewhere. His current employer said he was taken into custody by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security, which handles intelligence and counterintelligence matters in the Chinese capital, on Monday night during one of his regular visits to Beijing. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c34b4057535883a7c10b92b136c42d2d
