Canada's prime minister fires his ambassador to China
Toronto, Jan 27 : Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fired Canada's ambassador to China after the envoy said it would be "great" if the US dropped its extradition request for a Chinese tech executive arrested in Canada.
Trudeau said Saturday that he had asked for and accepted John McCallum's resignation Friday night.
McCallum made the remark to the Toronto Star on Friday. That came a day after he issued a statement saying he misspoke about the case earlier in the week and regretted saying Meng Wanzhou has a strong case against extradition.
The arrest of the daughter of the founder of Huawei Technologies Ltd. at Vancouver's airport Dec. 1 severely damaged relations between China and Canada.
The US wants her extradited to face charges that she committed fraud by misleading banks about Huawei's business dealings in Iran "Last night I asked for and accepted John McCallum's resignation as Canada's Ambassador to China," Trudeau said in a statement.
Trudeau said Jim Nickel, the deputy head of mission at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, would represent his government in China. He thanked McCallum, a former minister in Trudeau's Cabinet, for his 20 years of public service.
China detained two Canadians shortly after Meng's arrest in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release her. A Chinese court also sentenced a Canadian to death in a sudden retrial of a drug case, overturning a 15-year prison term handed down earlier.
McCallum told Chinese media in the Toronto area earlier in the week that the extradition of Meng to the United States "would not be a happy outcome."
He suggested the case was politically motivated and said the US could make a trade deal with China in which it would no longer seek her extradition, and two Canadian detained in China could then be released.
But on Thursday McCallum walked back the remarks and said he "misspoke."
Trudeau had earlier dismissed calls to fire McCallum, but he clearly had enough after the envoy spoke off script again. Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland have stressed that Canada's government can't interfere politically in the case.
The leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Andrew Scheer, said McCallum should have been fired days ago because his remarks raised concerns about the politicization of the Meng case.
Scheer said McCallum caused damage to Canada's reputation by delivering different messages through different media on different days.
McCallum's remarks surprised many and fueled speculation that Canada might be trying to send a signal to China to reduce tensions.
A year ago, McCallum also made controversial comments about how Canada had more in common with China than the United States under Trump.
McCallum has strong personal ties to China, and he pointed out to Chinese-language media this week that his wife is of Chinese ethnicity and his three sons have Chinese spouses.
Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he felt bad for McCallum but said it was the right thing to do.
"What is worse is this is happening in the middle of the crisis when we need all-hands on deck," Saint-Jacques said.
He said the Chinese will now know that McCallum was not speaking for the Canadian government.
Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, said "Mr. McCallum's remarks were continuing to cause confusion about Canada's position.
On a matter of this importance, the Canadian government has to speak with a single, clear voice." Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto, said it is not an ambassador's job to speak out of turn.
"Of course, McCallum can obviously take refuge in arguing that what he said was largely true, but he can't escape the fact that it wasn't his job to say it. It does underline the hazards of sending a politician to do a diplomat's job," Bothwell said.
Saint-Jacques said he spoke to China's consul general in Montreal on Thursday who reported that China is furious at Canada for arresting Meng on behalf of the U.S., which is involved in a trade talks with China.
Saint-Jacques said the consul general told him he thinks a Canadian delegation should visit Beijing for talks. Saint-Jacques believes Canada should appoint a special envoy to try to resolve the crisis.
Trudeau and Freeland have stressed that Canada has an extradition treaty with the U.S. that it must respect.
The White House National Security Council declined comment on McCallum.
Meng is out on bail in Vancouver awaiting her extradition proceedings. The US has until Wednesday to submit paperwork for the extradition request.
Huawei has close ties to China's military and is considered one of the country's most successful international enterprises.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
