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For a country that likes to boast of its 3,000 years of recorded history, China displays a notably crude and unpolished face in matters of foreign relations.

Its behaviour since the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has been, in turns, boorish, threatening and ill-tempered. Its approach has been to unleash a flood of insults, warnings and demands. The impression it leaves is not that of a mature, confident state handling a difficult situation in an adult manner, but of an angry child throwing a tantrum in public while demanding to have its way.

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It’s not a method calculated to succeed. If there is a plan guaranteed to insult Canadians’ sense of justice and rally support to the government, it’s the one Beijing is following.

The impression it leaves is … of an angry child throwing a tantrum in public

The facts of the Meng case are clear and straightforward. The daughter of the founder of Huawei, one of China’s biggest and most important international operations, was detained on a U.S. request while on a stopover in Vancouver. The Americans suspect Huawei of deliberately violating sanctions against Iran. The arrest was handled in a standard, transparent, legal manner. Meng, a wealthy woman, has access to high-priced legal talent and was quickly out on bail to await proceedings at one of her Vancouver mansions.