Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canada has high standards on extradition treaties. (Photo : Getty Images)
Reports reveal that Canada wants to resume negotiations with China for drafting an extradition treaty. The sudden turn of Canada's foreign affairs policy on China is getting international criticism.
In a note obtained by the Canadian press, Daniel Jean, a top level adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was willing to extradite Chinese "economic fugitives" from the country.
"Canada does not want to be seen as a safe haven for fugitives and it is in Canada's interest to have such persons removed," according to the note.
Jean went to Beijing to start discussions on national security and the rule of law, which signals the start of negotiations for an extradition treaty.
Two human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, criticized the Canadian government for the shift in their stand on extradition. The groups said that China's liberal stance on the death penalty puts extradited persons at risk.
Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, said, "The standard rules of the road are that you cannot forcibly return anyone to a country where they face a well-founded fear of persecution or ill-treatment."
She added, "I think China's particular interest in pushing this with Canada at the moment is to then be able to say to the U.S. and Australia, 'They did it, why won't you?"'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clarified that they will not sacrifice the stand of the parliament on human rights for the sake of diplomacy.
He said, "Extradition is certainly one of the things the Chinese have indicated they wanted to talk about. But as everyone knows, Canada has very high standards in terms of extradition treaties, in accordance with our values."
"But we're happy to have a high-level security dialogue that will allow Canadian and Chinese officials to talk about a broad range of issues," he added.
