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By holding two harmless Canadians hostage, China does not send a message that it is ready to lead.

Secondly, we are writing to you from the point of view of second-generation Chinese Canadians. We are the future of the Chinese Canadian diaspora, a diverse community 1.8-million people strong. We are caught between a rock and a hard place watching two fellow Canadian citizens held in your country without charge, denied access to lawyers and refused a trial. It has been soul-crushing for many of us.

Our former ambassador to China, John McCallum, revealed that Michael Korvig faces up to four hours of interrogation daily. That kind of abuse is simply wrong. Meng Wanzhou was arrested and then promptly released on bail in Canada. Her human rights are not violated under the Canadian judiciary system. She currently lives in her plush multi-million-dollar mansion in Vancouver. She goes shopping with her friends. There is a point of fairness to be made here. It is wrong to hold Michael Korvig or Michael Spavor in awful conditions and subject them to torture.

When he was still a free man, Michael Korvig openly and frequently met with Chinese officials. China deemed his activities to be fine at the time. It has now changed its tune and argues that they were illegal. The lack of clarity and transparency around these kinds of practices does not place China in a positive light, nor does it sit well with the rest of the international community.