CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TOWARD INTERNATIONAL LAW China previously detained two former Canadian diplomats and one Swedish national on politically motivated charges in retaliation for Canada’s detention of a Huawei executive on an extradition request from the United States. 72 In July a Canadian court ordered the extradition of Meng Wanzhuo to the US to face trial for violating the sanctions regime imposed on Iran. 73 China protested her detention and sought her release. However, the Canadian court maintained it has a responsibility to honor an extradition request from the United States under the U.S.-Canada extradition treaty. China later charged the two Canadians with violating its national security law and remanded them in custody. China recently convicted one of the Canadians and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. China never honored its obligation under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations to grant access to Canadian embassy officials to visit their nationals. Following a deal struck between Meng Wanzhuo and US authorities, Meng accepted a plea deal in which she admitted to lying. She was released and allowed to return to China. The two Canadians were immediately released and allowed to return to Canada. Although China never acknowledged it detained the two Canadians in retaliation to Canada’s detention of Meng, the sudden release of the two men confirmed what many always believed, that China was engaged in hostage diplomacy. China has also kidnapped and detained booksellers from Hong Kong and held them for an extended period without acknowledgment. Enforced disappearance is a widespread practice used by the regime to crack down on those who oppose the dicta of the CCP. In February 2020, a Chinese court sentenced Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong bookseller who holds Swedish nationality, to ten years in prison for selling books about corruption among the highest echelon of the Chinese Communist Party. 74 Other detainees have not been publicly charged and their families do not know their whereabouts. China has failed to live up to even the basic standards of minimum standards of justice, as required under international law. China’s judiciary lacks legitimacy and does not operate with complete independence. China’s courts operate as an organ of the CCP. Anyone arrested in China is guilty until proven innocent, which seldom happens. One hundred percent of people arrested in China are found guilty and given lengthy prison sentences. The Chinese Communist Party uses the court system as a tool to punish those who fall out of favor with its policies. China is highly intolerant of dissent. Open opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or challenges to the authority of the state is considered a violation of the country’s national security law. There is no clarity on what constitutes China’s “national security law;” it is what the courts say it is, which they never say. Religion or freedom of conscience is not tolerated in China unless sanctioned by the Communist Party. China treats western religions as cults and imprisons their followers. 75 The right to free expression does not exist in China, nor is internet freedom. China’s “Great Firewall” censors certain internet contents, including words, phrases, and terminologies on the internet. China uses certain apps to trace users for internet content it deems a violation 72 GALBRAITH, J. Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law, 113 AJIL , (2019), p. 388. 73 Requirement for Huawei Official’s Extradition to US Have Been Met, Canada Says , Reuters (July 20, 2020). 74 MINHAI, Gui. Hong Kong Bookseller Gets 10 Years in Jail , @ https:// voanews/Americas/requirements-Huiwai officials-extradition-us-have-been-met-canada-says (Feb. 25, 2020). 75 PICCONE, T. “China’s Long Game on Human Rights at the United Nations”, Foreign Policy at Brookings , (September 2018), p. 5.

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