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On 28 January 2019, a group of international scholars and writers issued an Open Letter to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, expressing their solidarity with Canada on the unfair and unjust detention of three Canadian citizens by the People's Republic of China. The open letter was published in the
Taipei Times on 30 January 2019. This is the 14th joint statement / letter by the group since November 2008.
An open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the detention of three Canadian citizens by China
"The detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and the new death sentence handed down to Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, are in our view serious infringements on human rights and international law."
28 January 2019
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,
The undersigned, international scholars, religious leaders and former government officials wish to extend their solidarity with Canada on the unfair and unjust detention of three Canadian citizens by the People's Republic of China, and other pressures that are being put on Canada to comply with the PRC's demands to turn the legal process in the deportation case of Meng Wanzhou into a political exchange. We admire the way that your government has handled this issue non-politically, in keeping with international law and diplomatic norms.
The detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and the new death sentence handed down to Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, are in our view serious infringements on human rights and international law. The Beijing government is playing hostage diplomacy with Canada. We thus urge you to remain strong and uphold the rule of law in the face of the PRC's intimidating tactics. We also call on our own governments to stand in solidarity with Canada at this time.
As international scholars who have for many decades observed the behavior of the PRC government towards the country of our academic specialization, Taiwan, we must say that China's actions are regrettably a new norm. The government in Beijing is increasingly using threats and intimidation to get its way, and the international community has been too lax in looking the other way.
Taiwan and Canada are natural allies. The two countries share many of the same values, including democracy, respect for human rights, and a belief in the dignity of the individual. In spite of its momentous transition to democracy in the 1990s - or perhaps because it represented a democratic alternative -- Taiwan has long been at the receiving end of pressures and bullying from the rulers in Beijing. Taiwan's experience in dealing with these may be helpful for Canada at this point.
In fact, Taiwan has had to deal with a very similar situation: in March 2017, a Taiwan citizen, Mr. Lee Ming-che, disappeared when he travelled to China. Mr. Lee, a longtime and respected human rights worker and democracy advocate, has been in Chinese detention for almost two years now. He was held incommunicado for many months, eventually put on a show trial in September 2017, and sentenced to five years imprisonment for "subverting state power."
China also uses economic pressure on Taiwan, including using Taiwanese businessmen working in China to pressure the government. We note that the Canadian Foreign Minister's statement of December 7th 2018 "expressed Canada's strong disappointment that China is involving private industry and obliging them to take a position on political issues." Canada and Taiwan are in the same boat, and should cooperate and coordinate much more than they have done before.
We thus recommend that you use this occasion as an opportunity to review and enhance Canada's relations with a free and democratic Taiwan, strengthening exchanges based on shared values and principles of human rights and democracy.
Signatories:
Canada
1. Clive Ansley, international lawyer, Courtenay, British Columbia
2. J. Michael Cole, senior fellow University of Nottingham, former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Ottawa
3. Ed File, emeritus professor of social science, York University, Toronto, Ontario
4. Harry Hsiao, emeritus professor of history, University of Victoria, British Columbia
5. André Laliberté, professor and co-holder of the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa
6. Diana Lary, emeritus professor of modern Chinese history, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
7. Albert J.F. Lin, emeritus professor, Ryerson University, Toronto
8. The Very Reverend Dr Bruce McLeod, former moderator, United Church of Canada
9. Judith Nagata, professor of anthropology, York University, Toronto, Ontario
10. Wayne Pajunen, writer and former legislative aide, House of Commons, Ottawa
11. Terence C. Russell, Senior Scholar, Asian Studies Centre, University of Manitoba
12. Scott Simon, professor and co-holder of the Research Chair in Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa
13. Michael Stainton, Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada, Toronto
14. Wilma Welsh, former missionary to Taiwan and Moderator of the 132nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Guelph, Ontario
15. Wendy Wong, York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Toronto, Ontario
Australia and New Zealand
16. Anne-Marie Brady, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury, Otautahi-Christchurch. Aotearoa-New Zealand
17. Kevin Carrico, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
18. Feng Chongyi, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
19. J. Bruce Jacobs, emeritus professor of Asian Languages and Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
20. David C. Schak, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Europe
21. Michael Danielsen, Taiwan Corner, Copenhagen, Denmark
22. Michael Rand Hoare, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK
23. Paul Jobin, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and University of Paris Diderot, France
24. Bruno Kaufmann, European Democracy Foundation, Switzerland
25. Sasa Istenic Kotar, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
26. Lutgard Lams, Faculty of Arts, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
27. Christian Schafferer, Department of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Institute; Chair, Austrian Association of East Asian Studies, Editor Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, Vienna, Austria
28. Gerrit van der Wees, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, and former editor of Taiwan Communiqué, The Hague, The Netherlands
29. Michael Yahuda, Visiting Scholar, George Washington University, professor emeritus The London School of Economics, UK
Taiwan
30. Fang-ming Chen, emeritus professor and chairman, Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
31. H. H. Michael Hsiao, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
32. Dean Karalekas, South China Sea Think Tank, Taipei, Taiwan
33. Michael Y.M. Kau, former deputy foreign minister, Taiwan, and former president Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Taipei, Taiwan
34. Frank Muyard, L'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient / National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
35. Michael Scanlon, Shih Chien University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
36. William A. Stanton, former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei
United States
37. John J. Tkacik, International Assessment and Strategy Center, retired US foreign service officer, Alexandria, Virginia
38. Thomas Bartlett, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
39. Joseph A. Bosco, Georgetown University (retired), formerly at the office of the secretary of defense, US Department of Defense, Washington
40. Gordon G. Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China, New Jersey.
41. Peter Chow, City University of New York, New York
42. June Teufel Dreyer, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
43. Brock Freeman, American Citizens for Taiwan, Seattle, Washington
44. Edward Friedman, professor emeritus, Department of Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
45. Thomas G. Hughes, former chief of staff to the late US senator Claiborne Pell, Washington
46. Richard C. Kagan, professor emeritus, Hamline University, St Paul, Minnesota
47. Perry Link, professor emeritus of East Asian studies, Princeton University, New Jersey
48. Daniel C. Lynch, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
49. Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
50. James Mann, author and fellow in residence at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC
51. Timothy S. Rich, Western Kentucky University, Kentucky
52. Bert Scruggs, Department of East Asian Studies, University of California, Irvine
53. James D. Seymour, Columbia University, New York City
54. Peter Tague, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington
55. Ross Terrill, Fairbank Center Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
56. Arthur Waldron, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
57. Jack F. Williams, professor emeritus, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
58. Ambassador Stephen M. Young, US department of state (retired), Londonderry, New Hampshire.
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