Records showed that China detains more Canadian citizens in its prisons than any other foreign country, excluding the US.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Department of Foreign Affairs cited the Privacy Act when declining to comment on specific individual cases.According to an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons, the department reported it knew 97 Canadians were being held in custody in both China and Hong Kong.“The data only represent information on cases that have been brought to the attention of the department,” said the Inquiry.Only US jails held more Canadians, a total of 557. The figures were requested by Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, AB), who asked, “How many Canadian citizens are detained or incarcerated abroad?”Following the US and China, the department reported it had information on 28 Canadians imprisoned in Australia, 24 in Japan, 16 in the UK, nine in Turkey, seven in Mexico, six in Cuba, four in Vietnam, and one in Singapore. The Inquiry indicated that globally, 910 Canadians are currently in foreign custody.Members of the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations had previously voiced their frustration due to the limited information available regarding Canadians detained in the People's Republic.“It shouldn’t take a crisis for people to get basic information,” Conservative MP Dan Albas (Central Okanagan-Similkameen, BC) told a 2020 hearing.Chinese authorities have portrayed their nation as a safe and pleasant destination for Canadian visitors.“China is not a police state,” Chinese Ambassador Cong Peiwu said in a 2021 speech at Memorial University. “It is nothing like that.”“There are more than 200,000 Chinese students studying in Canada, but only about 1,300 Canadian students studying in China,” said Cong. “We do encourage and welcome Canadian students to go study in China.”“Why would any Canadian go to China knowing if some political incident could happen, they would be arbitrarily detained?” asked a Memorial University moderator. “When it comes to the Canadian people going to China whether it’s for business, for tourism, for study, they should not be afraid of anything like that,” replied Peiwu.“Of course, if a very, very small number of people engage in those criminal activities, whether it’s Canadians or other nationalities, of course, it’s quite reasonable and justified for us to take relevant measures,” said Peiwu. “But I think for the vast majority of people, they should not be worried.”Peiwu, in a separate 2020 interview with the periodical Ottawa Life Magazine, said Canadians jailed in China did not receive “harsh treatment.” Media were to blame for depicting China as a police state, he said. “Canadian media, out of the motive to seek attention, distort the truth about China, which has misled the Canadian public,” said Peiwu.
