Loading ...Clearly, Beijing believes that if it pushes hard enough, Ottawa might fold. Otherwise, Ambassador Cong Peiwu probably wouldn’t have said what he said on Thursday.
To wit, the “wolf warrior” diplomat told reporters – according to Canada’s Globe and Mail – that Beijing finds it unacceptable that Canada recently accepted two pro-democracy dissidents from Hong Kong as refugees. And that if Ottawa accepts any more, Beijing will start targeting Canadian citizens in Hong Kong.
“We strongly urge the Canadian side not to grant so-called political asylum to those violent criminals in Hong Kong, because it is interference in China’s domestic affairs, and certainly it will embolden those violent criminals,” he said.
Cong added that accepting more dissidents could jeopardize the “health and safety” of 300,000 Canadians living in Hong Kong, and presumably others living in the mainland (if there are any left following the arrest and prosecution of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.