Canada's tourism minister is postponing a trip to China amid tensions over the arrest of a Chinese tech executive on behalf of the United States and the detentions of two Canadians in China in apparent retaliation.
Jeremy Ghio, a spokesman for minister Melanie Joly, said Friday that Canada and China "mutually agreed to postpone" her planned trip.
Canada arrested the chief financial officer of telecoms giant Huawei on Dec. 1. The U.S. wants her extradited on charges related to company violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. A Canadian judge released her on bail Tuesday.
In this courtroom sketch, Meng Wanzhou, right, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, listens to the judge during a bail hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. Wanzhou has been granted bail for $10 million by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, $7.5 million of which must be cash. Wanzhou is wanted by the United States on allegations that the company violated trade sanctions against Iran. (Jane WolsakThe Canadian Press via AP)
Meanwhile, the high-end parka maker Canada Goose has postponed the opening of its flagship Beijing store for "construction reasons."
There have been calls in China to boycott the Canadian company.
People fill out paperwork at the front desk of a B.C. courthouse after Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, was granted bail in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. Wanzhou is wanted by the United States on allegations that the company violated trade sanctions against Iran. (Jonathan HaywardThe Canadian Press via AP)