Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan holds a press conference in West Block to announce the Canadian Militaries plans on the mission in Mali on June 14, 2019. iPolitics/Andrew Meade photo

Harjit Sajjan says he raised the issue of two Canadians detained by Beijing at an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China that he and provincial politicians are being criticized for attending.

In a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for his re-election campaign said he delivered brief remarks before departing the dinner event organized by the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver on Sept. 22.

During his speech, “Mr. Sajjan took the opportunity to state that the Chinese government needed to address the consular cases of the two arbitrarily detained Canadians,” said Todd Michael Lane.

“Mr. Sajjan believes in standing up for the rights of Canadians and has done so on numerous occasions. Shortly following the remarks, Mr. Sajjan departed.”

The large gathering was also attended by Conservative Sen. Yonah Martin and B.C. cabinet ministers Bruce Ralston and George Chow, among other politicians.

The celebration comes as Ottawa and Beijing are embroiled in a diplomatic spat stemming from the December arrest of a Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver and subsequent detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor that the federal government calls “arbitrary.”

Also in attendance was China’s consul-general in Vancouver, Tong Xiaoling, and a number of other diplomats representing Beijing and the Hong Kong government. Chinese-language outlets Vanzsnews and Sing Tao have previously reported on the event.

Online photos of Sajjan, the federal defence minister, and other Canadian politicians at the event raised the eyebrows of critics of the Chinese regime, which, under President Xi Jinping, has increased its authoritarian grip and level of human rights abuses.

China has also punished Canada economically by restricting purchases of meat, soybeans and canola seeds.

Good Lord. @HarjitSajjan? I though he was better than this. The others don't surprise me at all. https://t.co/UAtdMEtRP3 — Terry Glavin (@TerryGlavin) September 29, 2019

Michael Lane said Sajjan was there in his capacity as candidate for Vancouver South, and emphasized in his statement that the benevolent association has long been a staple of the Chinese Canadian community.

He said during his speech, Sajjan also spoke of the “long-standing focus of the organization on promoting diversity and their efforts to grant Chinese Canadians the right to vote.”

But Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat posted to China, said it was wrong for politicians to attend such celebrations.

“It is highly inappropriate for any Canadians to participate in celebratory activities for the 70th anniversary of the PRC until such time as Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are freed from their utterly unjustified arbitrary detention,” said Burton, a vocal critic of Beijing and now a fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

“Mr. Sajjan was wrong to attend an event held to celebrate the PRC in his capacity as a federal election candidate and Minister of the Crown at this time.”

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Their decision to attend contrasts with Toronto Mayor John Tory’s decision to boycott a Chinese flag-raising ceremony in front of city hall on Monday, citing soured bilateral relations. The city allows all countries recognized by the Canadian government to raise their flag on their national day.

Sen. Martin, a Vancouverite and vice-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association, told iPolitics in an interview that she had attended the event as a way to support the local Chinese Canadian community.

“For me, I was focused on the community and that’s why I attended,” she said on Monday.

She said she believes her shared concerns with the Canadian government over the detentions were not compromised by attending the event.

“I think also as a Korean-Canadian, you know, the National Day is as important to those communities,” she said. “I go to Japanese community events, Korean community events, so it was in that theme.”

The event was held ahead of Oct. 1, China’s National Day. The celebration is no small deal in China, with festivals, fireworks and concerts planned across the country of almost 1.4 billion people. In Beijing, there was also a grand military parade before Communist Party brassshowcasing China’s latest wartime hardware.

In Hong Kong, which has been rocked anti-government protests for months, a large pro-democracy demonstration was held to coincide with the national holiday.

Vancouver’s Chinese benevolent association is among the oldest and most influential organizations serving Chinese Canadians. The umbrella group of more than 100 business and cultural associations has shown in recent years a pro-Beijing stance, for example, taking out newspaper advertisements in July denouncing Hong Kong protesters as “radicals.”

A 70th anniversary event was also hosted by China’s embassy in Ottawa on Sept. 25. A description of the event in Mandarin says Canadian government officials and senators were among those to attend.

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