It is all too obvious that China’s kidnap of two innocent Canadian citizens, namely Kovrig and Spavor, also known as “the two Michaels”, aims at making them a bargain chip for the exchange of Meng Wangzhou, a senior management of Huawei, arrested in Canada. For some time, China has kept denying it and insisting that things had been done “in accordance with law”. However, the court in Canada has recently ruled that Meng’s case is in compliance with the condition of “double criminality”, therefore justifying the continuation of her extradition proceedings to the US. In response to this, China finally decides not to disguise any more, and opts to bluntly put forward their condition of hostage exchange.

On June 20, the editor of the European Union division of the state-owned media China Daily wrote in twitter that Meng’s life is at least ten times more valuable than that of “the two Michaels”. This has fully exposed the aim and calculation behind the kidnapping plan. In fact, right after the arrestment of Meng, two other Canadian citizens were sentenced to death for drug-related crimes in China. This is clearly an act of retaliation. Perhaps, basing on the abovementioned “evaluation”, these two lives are hardly worth anything in the eyes of China.

Then on June 24, Zhao Lijian, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, made it even plainer by quoting Kovrig’s wife’s words to urge the Canadian justice minister to consider intervening in Meng’s extradition case and release her so as to “open up space for resolution to the situation of the two Michaels”. By doing so, communist China has posed a big question to the western world as well as the human civilization as a whole: now the second largest economic entity on the planet has publicly confessed to the kidnap of foreign citizens, with clear condition of hostage exchange proposed. So how should the world react to this?

CCP’s prominent specialty ever since its rise to power

In fact, ever since the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), no matter during or after their rise to power, their gangster kidnapper DNA has not mutated into a better form. They have been deploying the tactic of kidnapping while infiltrating Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they are now trying it out on the rest of the world. It is worth noticing that in the party history written by themselves, the credentials of kidnapping have been proudly presented. For instance, in 2014, the Beijing Daily published an article which glorified a senior CCP general called Liu Zhen, who “contributed” to the army of eastern Hubei in 1932 with ransoms from kidnapping. And till now, this “illustrious” story of the revolutionary history of the CCP can still be found in their official news website.

Of course, it is something more than just history. The tactic of kidnapping is still widely used for oppressing dissidents and “combating corruption”. Loved ones of the interrogated or the negotiators are captured for effective grilling. In these years, the CCP has started testing it on foreigners, first on those from smaller countries like Sweden. In 2016, a human rights activist from the country was made “confessing” his crime on CCTV after being tortured. And what followed was the Incident of Causeway Bookstore in Hong Kong, in which the owner Gwai Manhoi, a Chinese with Swedish citizenship, was kidnapped. And most awkward of all is that during his detention, he “applied for resuming his nationality of China”.

As in all cases of kidnapping, the health and safety of the hostages are the utmost concern of their loved ones. In the letter written in his detention cell, Kovrig mentioned, “I now believe the meaning of life is to alleviate suffering”. Understandably, his despair is deeply felt by his family. In fact, via the media, his wife has urged the Canadian government to compromise so as to save his husband’s life. And her appeal has gained certain support from the general public in Canada.

Last Thursday, Canada Prime Minister Trudeau responded by ruling out any swap with China, stating that any act of compromise would put all Canadians under threat. Trudeau’s firm stance comes to be a relief for many, though the misfortune of “the two Michaels” is heart breaking.

However, the only thing the kidnapper is concerned about is the ransom. It is crucial for the international community to stop being apathetic or paying mere lip services. Any form of appeasement will only help to encourage the vicious act.

It would be a big mistake for the western world to think that it is just Canada’s problem. Without the joint efforts to punish the kidnapper, Canada may finally be forced to compromise on a hostage exchange. After all, whether such a “specialty” of communist China is going to have its way in the order of the western countries will have a historic implication to the human civilization as a whole.

Click here for Chinese version.

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