BOISE, Idaho – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), today made the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice reaching an agreement with the Chinese government that will allow Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou’s to return home to China, and which resulted in the release of two Canadian citizens being unlawfully held by the Chinese government in retaliation for Meng’s ongoing detention:
“Today we welcome home two brave and honorable men, Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have endured horrific treatment by the Chinese government over the last 1,000 days. Today is an important day for them and their families.
“We must also acknowledge the resolution of this hostage situation is a victory for one of the world’s most brutal and cruel regimes. The Chinese Communist Party will be emboldened to use other foreign citizens as bargaining chips, because it now knows hostage taking is a successful way to get what it wants. Moreover, the Biden Administration has already proved willing to abandon Americans in Afghanistan. Americans in China, or in countries with extradition agreements with China, should carefully weigh the risks they face.
“These are devastating consequences. It is just the latest step by an administration that is giving into the Chinese Communist Party, and setting dangerous precedents.”
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