Hostage diplomacy highlights Beijing's increasingly darker side

Deal to resolve Meng case won't help other foreigners locked for political ends

Philip Calvert

December 11, 2020 17:00 JST

Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou, pictured in Vancouver on Dec. 7: she has rejected any arrangement that involves an admission of wrongdoing. © Reuters

Philip Calvert is a senior fellow with the China Institute at the University of Alberta. A former Canadian diplomat, he held postings in China, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.

Two years after Chinese authorities arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in retaliation for Canada's detention of Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou, rumors abound of a deal to bring an end to their imprisonment.