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Until John McCallum came along to explain otherwise, I was under the impression that China was doing a bang-up job of defeating itself in the case of Meng Wanzhou.

Since the Huawei executive’s arrest in Vancouver, Beijing has thrown a blistering international tantrum that succeeded in alarming political leaders and business executives in numerous countries, while ensuring neither Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor U.S. President Donald Trump could meet its demands without appearing to cave in to tyrants.

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The tide appeared to be flowing decidedly against Beijing. The louder the cries, the bigger the demands and the harsher the insults, the less likely any respectable politician was to let it have its way, if only from fear that a victory for China this time would spur even more egregious behaviour down the road.

The tide appeared to be flowing decidedly against Beijing

But then Mr. McCallum, the former Liberal cabinet member ushered off to China to make way for fresher blood, agreed to discuss the case with a group of Chinese journalists and promptly bolstered Beijing’s position, while firing a giant cannonball into the side of the Canadian government.