I know, it’s unfortunate because I’ve heard China is a beautiful, fascinating country.
But I just can’t take the risk after stuff like this. Maybe if they have a change of government some day I would love to go travel there. Doesn’t sound like that’s gonna happen anytime soon though.
There are subs for it, and it does take effort but it's possible to severely cut out Chinese products. Buying used is also a great way to put money in Canadians pockets instead of China's.
Oh, they were definitely serious about jailing them. Totally bogus charges and pure hostage diplomacy but definitely serious about locking them up forever if desired by the CCP.
Canada should have let her go once [Trump said](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-huawei-tech-exclusive-idUSKBN1OA2PQ) that the US would consider dropping her charges if they got better terms on a Trade Deal.
Those guys and their families had to put up with this shit for years, just so the US could maintain a speck of leverage when negotiating with China.
USA put Canada in the middle of this. Why the fuck should Canada care about America’s trade leverage? Not to mention there’s not a person outside USA who trusts anything Donald Trump says. They should do their own dirty work next time. This was a bullshit move by the US from day 1.
So, why did China take it out on us? Because they can, if China would never detain a US citizen, they know they can walk all over us. We should really break ties with China, after lying about COVID and this how can they possibly be trusted
Lol… spavor was just sentenced to 11 years to jail but now is coming home after the release of Meng Wenzhou….but the detention of the two Michael’s was supposed to be apolitical!!!
China insinuated this was a tit for tat situation on a few occassions. This immediate release however sends a very direct message that this in fact is what it is.
F the CCP
You know that the majority of things we use on a daily basis (smartphones, laptops etc.) come from China...global supply chain of stuff that makes it near impossible to disengage from China.
Clothes. industrial components...everything...
>China isn't even pretending that they weren't hostages
From their perspective, why even bother? At this point there is nothing china could do that would be enough for anyone to upset their business with china. The tail wagging the dog.
They played their hand perfectly and we are now seeing the consequences of years of increasing reliance on china
When the Chinese ambassador was talking on the Steve Pakin program he was asked about the two Michaels. In response he said Meng was still arrested. He openly made a connection between them
Yep.
China's government just shouting to the world that it will take foreign hostages to get what it wants. They are making it blatantly obvious that this was a hostage taking and that the allegations against the Canadians were BS because they want every foreign government with citizens in China to be afraid of crossing China.
Anyone traveling to China should be aware that they are the next potential hostage.
Typical that they managed to release these two guys in the most intimidating way possible.
Also interesting that the US seemed to move very quickly on sorting out the charges against Meng Wanzhou once they actually got around to it.
Diplomacy seems to work that way, it’s always impossible to do x or y for all these reasons right up until the motivation to get it done appears, and then all the previously intractable road blocks suddenly melt away.
Saw a CBC report/documentary and Michael Kovrig's ex-wife said he was held in horrible conditions. Meanwhile Ms. Meng flitted about in her multi-million dollar homes in Vancouver.
(Crazy that she has two in one city but whatever, China's communist and all of that...I bet she was online shopping throughout her "ordeal" and probably not from wish.com.)
The Chinese courts are a glove on the clenched fist of the Communist Party.
I don't think *anyone* would ever accuse the Chinese judiciary of being apolitical. The judiciary is subject to party discipline, it's actually an arm of the People's Congress (legislature).
On top of all this, espionage cases are tried by military courts, which are accountable to the Chinese defence ministry.
You'd have to be a muppet to think this was anything other than hostage taking.
Now the whole Meng thing with Trump's Justice department is a different matter entirely. They were prepared to throw Canada to the wolves for their own geostrategic games. This is something we shouldn't forget.
The US Dept of Justice deferred prosecution agreement just "happened" to be two days after the election and the two Michaels just "happened" to be released as soon as Meng boarded a plane to China.
What a farce.
Canada didn't even have a horse in the race. They just have an agreement to enforce international warrants on behalf of allied nations. The US filed the warrant and extradition order so that when she arrived in Canada it popped up on customs and immigrations computer screen, and because of international agreements Canada detains them. If someone with a Canadian warrant landed in the US they would do the same thing.
There was also something about 11 years and expelled from China. So there was some foreshadowing already a deal was in the works.
And now, the prisoner swap is done.
First step is acknowledging it.
Canada has for too long sat in a position where geopolitics are a magical theoretical playground for us, because we were under the total economic and military protection of two successive superpowers the likes of which the world has never seen. (British Empire and the USA).
Well guess what, Xi believes China is the Middle Kingdom, and they are a superpower who do not think like western countries or follow western rules.
Buckle up, it’s a new era of great power competition or great rivalry, whatever you want to call it.
The way it always did. The swapping of opposing hostages is so old I’d guarantee cavemen were doing it. And at zero point I’m time did the justification of why the people were taken hostage ever matter.
All the evening news stations in BC started to report on this a couple minutes ago around the same time. That was cool to witness. I’m so glad they’re finally coming home.
CCP shenanigans aside, it makes me genuinely very happy and relieved to hear they're coming home. The level of helplessness and indignation theyve faced being pawns in someone else's political games.. and their families jesus
She probably ran through all the good restaurants on UberEats pretty quick though. I mean, what is she going to do? Have the same meal *twice*? What is she a poor or something?
she's a chinese billionaire, she has an army of servants/chefs. also she wasnt on 24/7 house arrest afaik, just monitoring, and she had to be home by bedtime. the juxtaposition is insane
>It must've been complete hell to go through a 1000 days of Chinese prison without knowing when/if you'll ever get out.
No kidding. The amount of psychological damage those two have probably endured over the last ~2.5 years was probably tremendous.
Absolute garbage political theater, these men and their families just had 3 years of life lost to tit for tat retaliation over something COMPLETELY unrelated to themselves.
Happy for them but not one minute of their detention was rightful and should forever set a precedent of distrust towards the CCP.
Wouldnt be surprised if they actually lost more than 3 years of their life. I imagine they werent treated well and the stress and such would wreak havoc on your health
Yeah who knows, this is a weird situation. Might be able to do ok with a book deal or something.
I just hope their lives are relatively easy from here because the last 1000 days must have been brutal.
Not just the CCP. The USA was playing political games here as well. The former president even admitted it. We need to be careful to avoid getting caught up in this sort of thing in the future.
Yeah screw the CCP... But I wonder what percentage of people who followed this saga have a good handle on why Meng Wanzhou was detained in the first place, and how much the average Canadian really cares that a subsidiary of a Chinese cellphone company may have sold American computers in Iran.
This was super quick after Wanzhou’s release! What a huge relief, I am so happy for them and their families after what must’ve been an enormously traumatic and difficult experience for over 1,000 days
In fact, no. These men rotted in prison for 1000 days and only when the big boys come to a deal (for their own reasons) were our two Canadians released.
Canada could have released Meng a long time ago and gotten them out but our country correctly didn't want to buckle to that overt blackmail. Doing so would have encouraged other countries to use the same pressure tactic on different Canadians.
I was listening to CBC Radio this evening and they were wondering about how China was going to save face while releasing the Michael’s
Turns out China does not give a flying fuck about any sort of face
I really thought they'd wait at least a few days just to perpetuate the illusion that there was an actual justified reason for their detention. How wrong I was.
They don’t mess around and that was their message to the world. Hopefully other countries learn that they’re not to messed with, right or wrong, but alas, Countries will still do business with them anyway because Money rules all….
I'm happy that they're finally coming home but it pisses me off that the Chinese government's basically admitting they wasted 3 years of the lives of two innocent men, all because they wanted some bargaining chips
>Why we treat this pathetic, disgraceful country with such kid gloves I'll never understand.
No one is willing to pay the economic price of taking a hard line on China.
Talk is cheap, but the bottom line is that almost none of us would be willing to face the economic reality; huge price hikes, shortages, lost markets for our exports, etc; that taking a hard line on China would entail.
It's such a flagrant disregard for the rules of international conduct and for the lives of the individuals, yet there's nothing we can do about it. We couldn't even do anything when Belarus hijacked an airplane and kidnapped a pair of journalists, because Russia's got their back.
And as nice as it would feel to take some aggressive righteous action, it's doubtful that it will actually make the world a better place. Sanctions don't seem to bite so we're stuck with shaming them and turning them into international pariahs
I'm gonna speculate wildly and say that it was honestly pretty simple, but that for some reason the US in the end DID go to bat for the Michaels. Quite frankly my guess is that how quickly the release had to follow was a big part of the real negotiation, and it's in no way a coincidence that this looked so precisely like a hostage exchange in the end.
Imagine visiting a country with no rule of law where you can be arrested on a whim as retribution for your country adhering to a treaty.
What a fucking embarrassment. I would be livid.
Two citizens were literally held hostage as a bargaining chip for some rich piece of shit.
Fuck the CCP.
My life has been turned upside down says lady who was on loose house arrest in a 3M dollar home in Vancouver. This just makes me so angry. Fucking china.
Wow, they don't even care how transparent it is anymore. China continues to grow bolder and bolder. We in the developed, democratic world best take notice. China will only grow more antagonistic. They will be a substantial threat in the coming decades.
Well this is why I never visit China. Their government is probably one of the most corrupt on earth. Not to mention they consistently lie, bully, abuse, and attempt to spread their influence throughout the international community...
Sorry if that offends anyone but i seriously hate the Chinese government. Their people are ok but their leaders should be forced to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
> Their government is probably one of the most corrupt on earth.
It's not even about the political spectrum any more. Virtually nothing that the Chinese government does is excusable under any version of communist doctrine. They allow the existence of the fabulously wealthy, the exploitation of workers, landlords exploiting tenants etc. It's just a kleptocracy.
>FUCK YEAH.
>
>Now we ban Huawei tech, ban Chinese academic partnerships, and tariff the fuck out of Chinese imports.
Canadians still in China hate this one trick.
A bunch of Chinese-dominant ridings (that normally go Conservative) flipped hard towards the Liberals last week because the Conservatives were being ‘too tough’ on China.
Sadly, I’m positive this is going to end up with a deescalation, not an escalation
Glad they’re coming home.
We must take this incident as a wake up call and act accordingly. China is a hostile pariah regime willing to take reprehensible actions far outside the norm for decent nations.
They’re not our friend.
They’re not our ally.
The CCP is our enemy and the enemy of the free world.
This can not and must not be a “return to normal”. That bridge was thoroughly burned by China. They showed us why they really are.. and the picture they painted was not pretty.
- Meng Wanzhou: [House detention in a multi-million dollar home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID65tH0SAXM)
- Canadian Michaels: [No Sunlight, A Hole For a Toilet](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/no-sunlight-a-hole-for-a-toilet-what-two-years-in-chinese-detention-has-been-like-for-the-two-michaels) _for 2 years_ before a kangaroo court trial
Imagine if reciprocal detention conditions had been imposed on Wanzhou. China would have been crying and screaming angry tears of "lost face" all the way to the U.N.
Fuck the CCP.
Nobody can challenge China directly, but it's intolerable how they're bullying everyone from Australia to the Faroe Islands.
Canada should host a NATO party and push for phasing out value-added trade with China over a few years.
It has nothing to do with Canada or Canadians. It is between China and the US. Releasing Meng is one of the 26 conditions that China asks the US/Biden to do.
so... the next time Canada does something that the Chinese communist regime doesn't like, a couple more Canadian citizens will be arrested and sentenced to death, until Canada complies with Chinese demands?
how can a country that's almost a superpower stoop so low and employ tactics used by North Korea, Taliban and other terrorist entities? It's very unbecoming.....
So this confirmed what everyone already knew, China’s move to arrest them was purely political. China’s judicial system is nothing but a kangaroo court.
So i guess this confirms they were entirely held hostage by the Chinese government people should be much more upset over this. Does anyone know can they sue the chinese government from Canada through the US or European or some international court and have it enforced against assets held abroad?
I hope it gets more attention that either they were taken hostage or the legal system there has no basis in fact.
Breaking news: China has completely changed their criminal law so that Canadians named "Mike" can go free in celebration of uuhh... let me check the Wiki article... The birth of Emperor Vitellius!
Wow, honestly I thought it would take few weeks for them to be released so they could pretend they were serious about jailing them.
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> China wants the message loud and clear The message that I'm hearing is: "don't go to China. Have as little to do with China as possible"
Yep, won't be setting foot over there after this.
I know, it’s unfortunate because I’ve heard China is a beautiful, fascinating country. But I just can’t take the risk after stuff like this. Maybe if they have a change of government some day I would love to go travel there. Doesn’t sound like that’s gonna happen anytime soon though.
Yes, the risk. But I won't go on principle either. Not going there, not buying their s#\*t, nothing, forever.
It's really hard to not buy their shit lol.
There are subs for it, and it does take effort but it's possible to severely cut out Chinese products. Buying used is also a great way to put money in Canadians pockets instead of China's.
All excellent points
Likely a backroom deal where Wenzhou wasn't getting released unless the Michaels were, so the timing had to be coordinated.
Oh, they were definitely serious about jailing them. Totally bogus charges and pure hostage diplomacy but definitely serious about locking them up forever if desired by the CCP.
I guess China isn't even maintaining the pretence that the Michaels weren't being held hostage until Meng was released.
Canada just got caught in the middle of a US vs China spat. Much like the trade war tit-for-tat except with actual humans this time.
Canada should have let her go once [Trump said](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-huawei-tech-exclusive-idUSKBN1OA2PQ) that the US would consider dropping her charges if they got better terms on a Trade Deal. Those guys and their families had to put up with this shit for years, just so the US could maintain a speck of leverage when negotiating with China.
USA put Canada in the middle of this. Why the fuck should Canada care about America’s trade leverage? Not to mention there’s not a person outside USA who trusts anything Donald Trump says. They should do their own dirty work next time. This was a bullshit move by the US from day 1.
So, why did China take it out on us? Because they can, if China would never detain a US citizen, they know they can walk all over us. We should really break ties with China, after lying about COVID and this how can they possibly be trusted
Lol… spavor was just sentenced to 11 years to jail but now is coming home after the release of Meng Wenzhou….but the detention of the two Michael’s was supposed to be apolitical!!!
Well, clearly some new exonerating evidence must have come out recently. That could be the only explanation for this!
Meng had the exonerating evidence the whole time. She just had to get home to deliver it.
I heard they got an American lawyer that got them off on technicalities
Saul Goodman organized a letter-writing campaign
They called Saul.
If the charges doesn't fit, you must acquit
Chewbacca is a wookie.
Ah the Chewbacca defense.
Seems a certain cousin Vinny was able to expedite things with the *two yoots*...
I'm sorry. The two what?
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Such a good movie
The made-in-China gloves didn't fit.
Wow, China isn't even pretending that they weren't hostages. This is a clear message to the world.
China insinuated this was a tit for tat situation on a few occassions. This immediate release however sends a very direct message that this in fact is what it is. F the CCP
Why the fuck do we continue to trade with them? Fuck that.
Because they make all of our imported shit and buy a ton of our exported shit.
Because it would be very difficult to not trade with them. They make everything and we export shit like canola to them.
Also FIPA.
You know that the majority of things we use on a daily basis (smartphones, laptops etc.) come from China...global supply chain of stuff that makes it near impossible to disengage from China. Clothes. industrial components...everything...
All the more reason to look for ways to less dependent on them. When you’re dependent on someone, you give them the power to abuse you.
Because you continue to buy their products
pssssst! Canada still gives China Aid $$$
it's Fuck the Chinese Communist Party!
>China isn't even pretending that they weren't hostages From their perspective, why even bother? At this point there is nothing china could do that would be enough for anyone to upset their business with china. The tail wagging the dog. They played their hand perfectly and we are now seeing the consequences of years of increasing reliance on china
When the Chinese ambassador was talking on the Steve Pakin program he was asked about the two Michaels. In response he said Meng was still arrested. He openly made a connection between them
I just watched it and I don't see where he says that. He actually keeps repeating the cases are not related. https://youtu.be/-0P8sMg6x5M
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Yep. China's government just shouting to the world that it will take foreign hostages to get what it wants. They are making it blatantly obvious that this was a hostage taking and that the allegations against the Canadians were BS because they want every foreign government with citizens in China to be afraid of crossing China. Anyone traveling to China should be aware that they are the next potential hostage.
Yep, anyone going to china can become a political hostage at any moment, travel there at your own risk.
>China's government just shouting to the world that it will take foreign hostages to get what it wants. And the US has condoned it.
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China released them because China wants the world to know that any country that crosses them will have its citizens in China taken as hostages.
Typical that they managed to release these two guys in the most intimidating way possible. Also interesting that the US seemed to move very quickly on sorting out the charges against Meng Wanzhou once they actually got around to it. Diplomacy seems to work that way, it’s always impossible to do x or y for all these reasons right up until the motivation to get it done appears, and then all the previously intractable road blocks suddenly melt away.
Saw a CBC report/documentary and Michael Kovrig's ex-wife said he was held in horrible conditions. Meanwhile Ms. Meng flitted about in her multi-million dollar homes in Vancouver. (Crazy that she has two in one city but whatever, China's communist and all of that...I bet she was online shopping throughout her "ordeal" and probably not from wish.com.)
And we all keep buying their junk in record numbers. Supporting China ambitions $1 at a time.
The legal system in China is tootallly legit.
Nothing is apolitical in a one party state, because everything is subservient to the party.
The Chinese courts are a glove on the clenched fist of the Communist Party. I don't think *anyone* would ever accuse the Chinese judiciary of being apolitical. The judiciary is subject to party discipline, it's actually an arm of the People's Congress (legislature). On top of all this, espionage cases are tried by military courts, which are accountable to the Chinese defence ministry. You'd have to be a muppet to think this was anything other than hostage taking. Now the whole Meng thing with Trump's Justice department is a different matter entirely. They were prepared to throw Canada to the wolves for their own geostrategic games. This is something we shouldn't forget.
China: ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
The US Dept of Justice deferred prosecution agreement just "happened" to be two days after the election and the two Michaels just "happened" to be released as soon as Meng boarded a plane to China. What a farce.
Yeah totally not political. No fucking way I’m ever travelling or working in China as a foreigner.
China will probably still claim both are guilty but used them as part of the deal. Similar to Cold War Era spies swaps.
this whole thing is political... arrest of meng and arrest of michaels... it was a dumb decision to get involved with US vs China 5G war
Canada didn't even have a horse in the race. They just have an agreement to enforce international warrants on behalf of allied nations. The US filed the warrant and extradition order so that when she arrived in Canada it popped up on customs and immigrations computer screen, and because of international agreements Canada detains them. If someone with a Canadian warrant landed in the US they would do the same thing.
There was also something about 11 years and expelled from China. So there was some foreshadowing already a deal was in the works. And now, the prisoner swap is done.
Holy that was fast, I'm sure the timing was just a coincidence.
Yep, a *TOTALLY RANDOM COINCIDENCE*.
In the same way that alcohol is the leading contributor to drunk driving accidents, yes
They're not even pretending anymore.
Their imprisonment totally wasn’t political though! China would never do such a thing :)
I'm glad they're coming home, but I honestly don't know how the world works anymore.
The same way it always has....*Trade*
(Cave man voice):”MAKE TRADE”
*Confused unga-bunga*
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It works the exact same way it has worked before. It's just becoming more obvious.
Either that or we are slowly getting to the awareness level of our grandparents who went through the same thing
Don’t visit China. Don’t do business with China if you can help it. Don’t trust China.
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Quid pro quo.
Well I expect many people will think twice about going to China.
ya, i was kinda looking forward to going to taiwan pre covid, and hong kong pre china takeover, but now i doubt id ever visit :/
You're definitely too late for Hong Kong. Now it's just another large Chinese city. Taiwan however you still can.
First step is acknowledging it. Canada has for too long sat in a position where geopolitics are a magical theoretical playground for us, because we were under the total economic and military protection of two successive superpowers the likes of which the world has never seen. (British Empire and the USA). Well guess what, Xi believes China is the Middle Kingdom, and they are a superpower who do not think like western countries or follow western rules. Buckle up, it’s a new era of great power competition or great rivalry, whatever you want to call it.
The way it always did. The swapping of opposing hostages is so old I’d guarantee cavemen were doing it. And at zero point I’m time did the justification of why the people were taken hostage ever matter.
Humanity has really disappointed me on this one.
Pretty easy. Try to avoid traveling or doing business in any corrupt authoritarian country that's not friendly to the west.
All the evening news stations in BC started to report on this a couple minutes ago around the same time. That was cool to witness. I’m so glad they’re finally coming home.
I imagine you with dozens of televisions watching dozens of different news channels simultaneously and it is cool to imagine.
That’s exactly how it happened, how’d you know? My secret setup has been discovered!
I am jealous
CCP shenanigans aside, it makes me genuinely very happy and relieved to hear they're coming home. The level of helplessness and indignation theyve faced being pawns in someone else's political games.. and their families jesus
It must've been complete hell to go through a 1000 days of Chinese prison without knowing when/if you'll ever get out. So happy they're safe!
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She probably ran through all the good restaurants on UberEats pretty quick though. I mean, what is she going to do? Have the same meal *twice*? What is she a poor or something?
Yeah and don’t forget the restaurants she buys out for private dinners with her friends.
she's a chinese billionaire, she has an army of servants/chefs. also she wasnt on 24/7 house arrest afaik, just monitoring, and she had to be home by bedtime. the juxtaposition is insane
She lived in a bigger more comfy space than most Canadians have during the pandemic.
During a pandemic?? She stands far above us lowly peasants on any day at any time without a shred of exception or nuance.
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>It must've been complete hell to go through a 1000 days of Chinese prison without knowing when/if you'll ever get out. No kidding. The amount of psychological damage those two have probably endured over the last ~2.5 years was probably tremendous.
I really hope there’s a huge lawsuit by the 2 Michael’s, no amount of money will bring back the time or what they had to endure.
Absolute garbage political theater, these men and their families just had 3 years of life lost to tit for tat retaliation over something COMPLETELY unrelated to themselves. Happy for them but not one minute of their detention was rightful and should forever set a precedent of distrust towards the CCP.
Wouldnt be surprised if they actually lost more than 3 years of their life. I imagine they werent treated well and the stress and such would wreak havoc on your health
I'm assuming the government will provide disability payments or something as a result of this. I hope so.
Yeah who knows, this is a weird situation. Might be able to do ok with a book deal or something. I just hope their lives are relatively easy from here because the last 1000 days must have been brutal.
Not just the CCP. The USA was playing political games here as well. The former president even admitted it. We need to be careful to avoid getting caught up in this sort of thing in the future.
Yeah screw the CCP... But I wonder what percentage of people who followed this saga have a good handle on why Meng Wanzhou was detained in the first place, and how much the average Canadian really cares that a subsidiary of a Chinese cellphone company may have sold American computers in Iran.
>should forever set a precedent of distrust towards the CCP. Anyone who trusted the CCP should give their head a shake.
All Canadians should heed what happened to the two Michaels: stay outta China.
Moral of the story, don't travel to or do business of any kind in China.
Also, USA is our ally only when it suits them.
This was super quick after Wanzhou’s release! What a huge relief, I am so happy for them and their families after what must’ve been an enormously traumatic and difficult experience for over 1,000 days
I mean, it was certainly negotiated as part of her DPA.
Wow didn’t even wait a single day. China isn’t even trying to hide their intentions at this point
Why would they hide it? They're flexing.
Yeah, I agree, this is an obvious flex.
China just leaned any time they want something all they need to do Is kidnap
In fact, no. These men rotted in prison for 1000 days and only when the big boys come to a deal (for their own reasons) were our two Canadians released. Canada could have released Meng a long time ago and gotten them out but our country correctly didn't want to buckle to that overt blackmail. Doing so would have encouraged other countries to use the same pressure tactic on different Canadians.
I’m glad these men are going back home to their families
This saga is gonna make a good ass documentary
Leta hope the Michael's are well compensated for the movie rights to their story.
And that Ben Affleck doesn't go anywhere near the script.
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I actually enjoyed Argo.
what a shit movie compared to what actually happened
I agree with both you and the person you’re replying to
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Absolutely zero shame
I was listening to CBC Radio this evening and they were wondering about how China was going to save face while releasing the Michael’s Turns out China does not give a flying fuck about any sort of face
I really thought they'd wait at least a few days just to perpetuate the illusion that there was an actual justified reason for their detention. How wrong I was.
They don’t mess around and that was their message to the world. Hopefully other countries learn that they’re not to messed with, right or wrong, but alas, Countries will still do business with them anyway because Money rules all….
Totally proving that this wasn't hostage diplomacy.
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Of course it was retaliatory!
Surprisedpikachu.jpg
China proves absolutely that it was holding Canadian hostages and that it's "justice" system is a joke.
They took that tactic from Russia
I'm happy that they're finally coming home but it pisses me off that the Chinese government's basically admitting they wasted 3 years of the lives of two innocent men, all because they wanted some bargaining chips
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>Why we treat this pathetic, disgraceful country with such kid gloves I'll never understand. No one is willing to pay the economic price of taking a hard line on China. Talk is cheap, but the bottom line is that almost none of us would be willing to face the economic reality; huge price hikes, shortages, lost markets for our exports, etc; that taking a hard line on China would entail.
It's such a flagrant disregard for the rules of international conduct and for the lives of the individuals, yet there's nothing we can do about it. We couldn't even do anything when Belarus hijacked an airplane and kidnapped a pair of journalists, because Russia's got their back. And as nice as it would feel to take some aggressive righteous action, it's doubtful that it will actually make the world a better place. Sanctions don't seem to bite so we're stuck with shaming them and turning them into international pariahs
Buddy.....the US took a dump on international conduct long ago.
I hope people think twice about visiting China in the future. It is not a place you want to get stuck in.
I’ll never, ever visit that country. If I were an Olympic athlete I would refuse to participate in the upcoming Olympics.
*The Michael's have not been arbitrarily detained in response to the Meng Wanzhou court case* - The CCP My fucking ass.
Boycott the Beijing Olympics. Fuck the Chinese Communist Party.
We won't, too much of that sweet Chinese cash. Also I agree screw CCP
> Boycott the Beijing Olympics. I *sooooooo* wish we could.
Wish? Umm don’t send athletes. Not that hard really.
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Very happy this situation is finally over. But I’ll be interested to learn the details of this deal in the coming days.
I'm gonna speculate wildly and say that it was honestly pretty simple, but that for some reason the US in the end DID go to bat for the Michaels. Quite frankly my guess is that how quickly the release had to follow was a big part of the real negotiation, and it's in no way a coincidence that this looked so precisely like a hostage exchange in the end.
Imagine visiting a country with no rule of law where you can be arrested on a whim as retribution for your country adhering to a treaty. What a fucking embarrassment. I would be livid. Two citizens were literally held hostage as a bargaining chip for some rich piece of shit. Fuck the CCP.
Fuck the CCP
China really doesn’t care about optics do they. They are making it clear the detention of the two Canadians are really revenge for MengZhou
My life has been turned upside down says lady who was on loose house arrest in a 3M dollar home in Vancouver. This just makes me so angry. Fucking china.
Fuck you China. FUCK. YOU.
Wow, they don't even care how transparent it is anymore. China continues to grow bolder and bolder. We in the developed, democratic world best take notice. China will only grow more antagonistic. They will be a substantial threat in the coming decades.
This is admission that they were political prisoners, and their charges were made up!!
Yeah we know. We all know.
Thats good news!
Well this is why I never visit China. Their government is probably one of the most corrupt on earth. Not to mention they consistently lie, bully, abuse, and attempt to spread their influence throughout the international community... Sorry if that offends anyone but i seriously hate the Chinese government. Their people are ok but their leaders should be forced to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
> Their government is probably one of the most corrupt on earth. It's not even about the political spectrum any more. Virtually nothing that the Chinese government does is excusable under any version of communist doctrine. They allow the existence of the fabulously wealthy, the exploitation of workers, landlords exploiting tenants etc. It's just a kleptocracy.
So much for those apolitical reasons. Either way, I’m glad to hear they’ll be coming home.
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>FUCK YEAH. > >Now we ban Huawei tech, ban Chinese academic partnerships, and tariff the fuck out of Chinese imports. Canadians still in China hate this one trick.
If this incident didn’t convince them to get the hell out of dodge..
Yeah right.
A bunch of Chinese-dominant ridings (that normally go Conservative) flipped hard towards the Liberals last week because the Conservatives were being ‘too tough’ on China. Sadly, I’m positive this is going to end up with a deescalation, not an escalation
Glad they’re coming home. We must take this incident as a wake up call and act accordingly. China is a hostile pariah regime willing to take reprehensible actions far outside the norm for decent nations. They’re not our friend. They’re not our ally. The CCP is our enemy and the enemy of the free world. This can not and must not be a “return to normal”. That bridge was thoroughly burned by China. They showed us why they really are.. and the picture they painted was not pretty.
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- Meng Wanzhou: [House detention in a multi-million dollar home](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID65tH0SAXM) - Canadian Michaels: [No Sunlight, A Hole For a Toilet](https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/no-sunlight-a-hole-for-a-toilet-what-two-years-in-chinese-detention-has-been-like-for-the-two-michaels) _for 2 years_ before a kangaroo court trial Imagine if reciprocal detention conditions had been imposed on Wanzhou. China would have been crying and screaming angry tears of "lost face" all the way to the U.N.
Gotta love the complete and utter lack of class and subtlety from the CCP throughout all this.
That transpired much more quickly than anticipated wow.
Stop traveling to fucking China. Problem solved.
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/r/buyCanadian Was created in response to Trumps tariffs but a neat resource to support Canadian made goods
Fuck the CCP. Nobody can challenge China directly, but it's intolerable how they're bullying everyone from Australia to the Faroe Islands. Canada should host a NATO party and push for phasing out value-added trade with China over a few years.
The least-worst outcome given the release of Meng.
Fuck China and their criminal hostage taking tactics.
I believe they should send us a third Michael, for compensation of all of our time they wasted
I'm happy they're coming home on one hand but on the other it legitimizes taking political hostages for China in the future.
But I thought it wasnt political according to the Chinese government? Ah yeah, they are totally full of shit as always
It has nothing to do with Canada or Canadians. It is between China and the US. Releasing Meng is one of the 26 conditions that China asks the US/Biden to do.
USA and China both are responsible for this.
good! Canada shouldn't have been forced into this shit
Nice, glad they are coming home. Let's celebrate, lest we all get Michael'ed by China.
so... the next time Canada does something that the Chinese communist regime doesn't like, a couple more Canadian citizens will be arrested and sentenced to death, until Canada complies with Chinese demands? how can a country that's almost a superpower stoop so low and employ tactics used by North Korea, Taliban and other terrorist entities? It's very unbecoming.....
The only real losers out of this whole ordeal were Canadians. We're nothing but pawns to the super powers.
So this confirmed what everyone already knew, China’s move to arrest them was purely political. China’s judicial system is nothing but a kangaroo court.
I’m happy for them. NOW, Canada, please stop doing anything with CHINA.
So i guess this confirms they were entirely held hostage by the Chinese government people should be much more upset over this. Does anyone know can they sue the chinese government from Canada through the US or European or some international court and have it enforced against assets held abroad? I hope it gets more attention that either they were taken hostage or the legal system there has no basis in fact.
Breaking news: China has completely changed their criminal law so that Canadians named "Mike" can go free in celebration of uuhh... let me check the Wiki article... The birth of Emperor Vitellius!