Commentary: Time to show your courage for independence, Canada!

BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian authority has arbitrarily detained the CFO of Chinese Huawei company Meng Wanzhou for 1,000 days.

Thirty-three months have passed with countless hearings and debates, yet only two things were confirmed:

First, Meng did nothing in violation of Canadian laws.

Second, neither Canada nor the United States has evidence that Meng might have broken any laws.

When all the disguise was gone, one conclusion turned out to be crystal clear: Meng's case is purely a political incident. The U.S. government concocted the incident -- not for legal reasons but to keep Chinese high-tech companies down and obstruct China's scientific and technological development.

This begs the following questions:

Canada talks about "human rights" and "the rule of law," yet it arbitrarily detained Meng for 1,000 days. Is that the Canadian way to ensure human rights and implement the rule of law? There are some Western countries very good at accusing other countries of "violating human rights." Now they are witnessing such textbook coercion and human rights violations behavior. Why do they remain silent?

Although Canada tried desperately to use legal excuses to justify its actions, it is a pawn of the United States to take advantage of others unscrupulously, suppress dissidents, and seek personal gains.

Meng's case had aroused the indignation of the Chinese people. A Chinese media outlet last Wednesday published an open letter to the Canadian ambassador to China. It also launched an online petition asking Canada to immediately and unconditionally release Meng. In just over a week, more than 15 million people added their names to the letter.

"We urge the Canadian government to heed these voices for justice, immediately correct its mistakes, and lift the arbitrary detention. It should also revoke the arrest warrant and extradition request, and release Meng and ensure her safe return to the motherland as soon as possible," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday at a daily news briefing in response to a relevant question.

As for Canada, it is sad and abominable to see a sovereign country fallen to this point. Canada's actions, in this case, caused serious harm to China-Canada relations and severely damaged Canada's international image and credibility.

It is time for Canada to uphold the spirit and courage for independence, refrain from acting as a pawn of the United States, and release Meng immediately.