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“Such a move ignores the law and is unreasonable, unconscionable, and vile in nature,” Le said in the statement.

“China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained Huawei executive … or face grave consequences that the Canadian side should be held accountable for,” Le said.

On Sunday, Le summoned U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad for a similar meeting, demanding Washington cancel the order for Meng’s arrest, Xinhua News Agency said.

Le called the United States to “immediately correct its wrong actions” and said it would take further steps based on Washington’s response.

Stephen Nagy, a distinguished fellow with the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said both Canada and China are walking a tight rope in relations with one another.

Canada could be concerned about retaliatory action that could range from the arrests of Canadians in China to the stonewalling of trade negotiations with British Columbia, he said.

Even if British Columbia had nothing to do with Meng’s arrest, the appearance of B.C. officials in China would be taken “very, very negatively,” he said.

“This is just standard practice in diplomacy where you don’t smack the face of your host before you go there,” he said in a phone interview from Japan.

It’s unlikely that any trade deals would have been signed under the circumstances, since it could appear to Chinese citizens that the Chinese government was rewarding Canada for the arrest, he said.

While Canada is under pressure to co-operate with the United States, he said China has an interest in maintaining positive relations with Canada to balance its tense trade relationship with the U.S.

“On the Chinese side, they don’t want to alienate potential partners who could take some pressure off from the United States during this trade war. So it’s a very delicate balancing act for both sides,” he said.