PM Lee notes importance of countries following legal due process in phone call with Trudeau

SINGAPORE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Thursday (Jan 17) expressed hope that an ongoing dispute between Canada and China would be resolved calmly and amicably, without further escalation, in a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Mr Lee received a call from Mr Trudeau where the Canadian leader had briefed him on the dispute, Mr Lee's press secretary Chang Li Lin said in a statement. "Prime Minister Lee noted the importance of all countries following due process of the law, and being seen to be doing so, when dealing with cases involving foreign nationals," Ms Chang added.

Canada and China are in the midst of a diplomatic row sparked by the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Dec 1 last year at the request of the United States.

Days after the arrest, China detained two Canadian citizens — businessman Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and an adviser with the International Crisis Group — whom it is investigating for endangering its national security.

On Monday, Canadian drug trafficker Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was retried by the Chinese courts and sentenced to death, after an appeals judge ruled in December last year that his previous sentence — 15 years imprisonment for attempting to ship 222 kilograms of methamphetamine out of northern China — was too light.

A statement put up on the website of the Canadian Prime Minister's Office said Mr Trudeau and Mr Lee "discussed the detention of two Canadians in China, the application of the death penalty to a third Canadian in China, and the importance of safeguarding international norms, including diplomatic immunity, judicial independence and respect for the rule of law".

The two leaders also spoke about other matters during the phone call, including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Both Canada and Singapore were among the first to ratify the agreement.

Mr Trudeau "reiterated his appreciation for participating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit last year as Guest of the Chair and the opportunity to collaborate on a range of important bilateral issues", his office said in the statement.

It added that Mr Trudeau congratulated Mr Lee on the outcome of the summit, and both leaders also "welcomed the momentum in bilateral co-operation between the two countries, including in the commercial relationship".

Ms Chang said the two leaders discussed bilateral co-operation, following Mr Trudeau's working visit to Singapore for the 33rd Asean Summit and Related Summits in November last year.