Trudeau raises detention of two Canadians with Chinese president at G20 summit

OSAKA, Japan — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised the issue of the two Canadians detained in China during face-to-face discussions with the Chinese president at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan

Trudeau says Canada and China are going through a “challenging moment” right now, adding that’s why direct conversations are an essential part of moving forward.

The prime minister did not have a formal bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi at the summit of leaders from major economies but the Prime Minister’s Office says there were “constructive interactions” between the two leaders.

Xi did sit down, however, with U.S. President Donald Trump for a highly-anticipated meeting on trade.
Trudeau says he is “confident” that the issue of the detentions was raised by Trump with Xi–a pledge the president made prior to the G20 following a meeting with the prime minister in Washington.

Ahead of the G20, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the president in Washington, where Trump committed to doing “anything” to help Canada.

In December, after Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on a U.S. extradition warrant in Vancouver, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were taken into custody in arrests deemed “arbitrary” by the Canadian government.

Trump told a post G20 news conference that he and Xi talked about Huawei, but not about Meng’s case.
“We didn’t discuss Ms. Meng. That was not discussed. We did discuss Huawei, but we didn’t discuss her situation,” he said.
And the president made no mention of the detained Canadians during the news conference.