中英对照: 加拿大在孟晚舟事件和地缘政治战役中遭受巨大损失

 

自从华为高管孟晚舟于 2018年12月在温哥华机场被捕到今年9月份被卑诗省法庭释放，孟晚舟事件已成从一个单纯的法律纠纷演变为中美之间的政治较量。北京将孟晚舟的回归看作是美国的服软，并在这场地缘政治斗争中大捞人质外交之战果。而竭力维持司法独立性的加拿大却在这场备受瞩目的事件中付出了惨痛的代价。

 

From Huawei's executive's arrest at the Vancouver airport in Dec. 2018 to her release by B.C. court in Sept., Meng Wanzhou's saga is legal process-turned-political wrestling between the U.S. and China.  Beijing views Meng's return as the U.S. heeding its request, claiming a significant victory of hostage diplomacy in the geopolitical battle. Canada, striving to maintain judiciary independence, has paid a hefty price in this high-profile case.

加拿大皇家骑警应美国引渡要求将孟晚舟逮捕，数年来视华为为共产党的工具并为美国国家安全之威胁的美国司法部对华为和其高管孟晚舟开展刑事调查。美国司法部就汇丰银行违反美国对伊朗制裁的禁令对孟提出欺诈指控，并于2018年8月发出了逮捕令。美司法部从与美国有引渡条约的9个国家中选中了向加国发出孟的引渡要求，就是因为司法部看好比这一邻国的司法系统，对其执法的高效和可靠性深信不疑。

 

RCMP arrested Meng in heeding U.S. extradition request. The DOJ, viewing Huawei as a national security threat and a pawn of CCP, started a criminal investigation against the company and its executive a few years ago. It laid fraud charges against Meng relating to HSBC's violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran and issued an arrest warrant in Aug. 2018. The DOJ picked Canada out of nine countries having an extradition treaty with the U.S. merely because it had trust in this neighboring country's judiciary system, believing it was the most reliable and straightforward partner.

 

但是，尽管美国是导致孟遭逮捕的始作俑者，中国的报复行动却瞄准了加拿大，让这个实力不足之国成为中国的撒气筒。在北京逮捕了两名无辜加国人质康明凯和斯帕弗后，中加关系急转直下。这场可怕的磨难给两名无辜的迈克尔带来无法想象的创伤，并让整个加国震颤和不安。中国的人质外交向全球发出了信号，那就是遵循法律原则是有报应的！

 

However, despite the US being the real culprit behind Meng's arrest, China's retaliation efforts had targeted Canada, leaving the less powerful country bearing the full brunt of China's anger.  China and Canada relations have gone into deep freeze after Beijing arrested two innocent Canadians in retaliation -- Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.  The horrible ordeal has inflicted unimaginable trauma on the two innocent men and rattled an entire nation.  China's hostage diplomacy had sent a chilling message to the rest of the world:  following the rule of law has consequences.

 

与此同时，加国政府面对着国内的要求释放孟晚舟以换取两名人质的巨大压力。随着从前议员到外交官的一些加国要人呼吁加国司法部长利用其法律权威结束引渡审判，这一要求加国政府政治干预这一法律案件的呼声愈加高涨。但特鲁多政府却拒绝屈从政治压力，执意以引渡司法程序解决争端。

 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government faced mounting pressure from domestic to free Meng Wanzhou in exchange for two Canadian hostages.  The vocal demands for Ottawa to politically intervene on Meng's case gained momentum, as a group of high-profile Canadians – including former parliamentarians and senior diplomats urged the Justice Minister to tap into his legal authority to end the extradition trial. But the Trudeau government had refused to bend to the pressure, allowing the extradition process to take its course.

 

加拿大为孟晚舟提供了一个透明，公平和公正的司法引渡程序，其辩护律师使尽浑身解数，利用一切可能的法律手段为其辩护，以使孟免于被引渡至美国面临审判。引渡听证程序中暴露出孟案之疑点和不足，而正是这些疑点和不足导致美国司法部向孟提供了对其有利的延期起诉协议，致使孟在不须认罪和不交罚款的前提下回到中国。从引渡法官提出的问题中明显看出，汇丰银行或许未能全面履行其竭尽调查之职责，且美司法部可能过分夸大了孟的误导在汇丰银行违反美国制裁令中的作用。

 

Canada has offered Meng a fair, transparent, and impartial judiciary trial, where her defense lawyers explored all legal avenues throughout the proceeding, leaving no stones unturned. The extradition hearing exposed insufficiency of the case against Meng, which might have prompted the DOJ to offer the DPA in Meng's favor, allowing her to return to China without a guilty plea or fine. Through reservations expressed by the judge, potential arguments emerged that HSBC might have failed its due diligence obligations and that DOJ magnified the role that Meng's alleged misrepresentation made in the HSBC's violations of the U.S. sanctions.

 

中国拘留两名人质的行为将一场纯粹的法律纠纷转化为不断升级的地缘化政治角斗。整个延迟审判协议的商讨过程是在政治较量的阴影笼罩下进行的，拜登亲自干预了协议的最后达成，以确保两名人质的释放。但以一份政治协议结束这场法律纠纷是对中国人质外交的奖赏。它模糊了独立法律程序的作用，严重损害了加拿大所崇尚，坚守的司法完整性。从这个角度看，在整个事件中，加拿大是受损最严重的国家。

 

China's detain of two Canadians has turned a legal dispute into an escalating geopolitical battle.  Political objectives had dominated the DPA negotiations, with Biden intervening in the final stage of the agreement to secure the two Canadians' release. Ending the case through a political deal has rewarded China's hostage diplomacy. It has obscured the role of an independent legal process, inflicting significant harm to the judiciary independence that Canada has valued and upheld. From this standpoint, Canada has suffered the biggest casualty in the entire incident.