Sarcasm is China’s latest weapon in battle with Canada over detainees: ‘I think your foreign minister may be in a hurry’
- Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying says Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland ‘can’t help speaking without thinking’
- Hua also said it was understandable that Canada was ‘a little worried’ about detentions of its citizens by Beijing
China has unveiled sarcasm as the latest weapon in its clash with Canada, whose foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, says Beijing’s detentions of Canadians pose a threat to all countries.
“I think your foreign minister may be in a hurry, and can’t help speaking without thinking,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in response to a question from a Canadian journalist on Wednesday. “What threat has China posed to Canada?”
Hua said that Canada instead poses a threat to Chinese by detaining a Chinese citizen for “no reason”.
She was referring to the arrest in Vancouver of Chinese telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States.
“It is understandable that Canada is a little worried, but we hope it will avoid speaking freely without thinking because its reputation and image would be badly damaged by such behaviours,” Hua said. “And such remarks cannot help settle the issue, either.”