Tag: detention

Meng Hongwei, Interpol Chief from China, Disappears

Meng Hongwei, Interpol Chief’s final text to his wife, a knife. The meaning is clear that he is in terrible trouble. The Chinese says to wait for his phone call.

Meng Hongwei, Interpol Chief’s final text to his wife, a knife. The meaning is clear that he is in terrible trouble. The Chinese says to wait for his phone call.

There are few international posts that China has taken. One of the most controversial ones is assigning a Chinese person to lead Interpol. Meng Hongwei 孟宏伟, Interpol Chief, is now missing in China, whereabouts and reason for his disappearance, unknown. China is well known to have a terrible human rights record towards both Chinese and foreign people within China. There is no openness for free speech, nor is the rule of law universally applied.

Beware of Legal Rights in China

Wu Yuren, husband of Canadian Karen Patterson and daughter Hannah

Wu Yuren, husband of Canadian Karen Patterson and daughter Hannah

No doubt about it, I am Canadian, and for a short time, I lived in China. Thinking that the Rule of Law in Canada is interpreted the same in China would seem logical but incorrect. Just because there are laws on the books, decreed by the government, similar in both countries, is insufficient to take the Canadian view of law and apply it to the People’s Republic of China. A case in point is Karen Patterson’s Chinese husband, Wu Yuren, who offered moral support for a friend and ended up beaten up and detained, with little access to his family or lawyer. He is still detained. His case is a good lesson to both Chinese and foreigners that China’s legal system works differently from Canada.