A New Travel Danger !

A few days ago we learned from news broadcasts that Meng Wanzhow had been taken into custody in Canada awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of breaking the international ban imposed on trade with Iran.  What made this news interesting is that Meng Wanzhow is the chief financial officer of the giant Chinese communications conglomerate Huawei and the daughter of its founder.

This arrest skirts the legalities of international law.  Meng Wanzhow was not technically " in " Canada when the airliner in which she was a passenger touched down to make a refuelling stop.  Such passengers are regarded as " in transit " and usually avoid customs inspections and any taxes that apply.  In this case, Canada seems to be the unwitting victim of where by sheer chance that arrest happened.

Huawei is itself controversial because it is banned from many world communication systems because inclusion of its products may lead to eavesdropping by China's Communist government.   This arrest has touched a sensitive nerve in China and within days two Canadian tourists in Beijing were taken into custody and charged with an amorphous " engaging in activities that endanger national security ".

Now a third Canadian has been arrested in China and all this seems to be a series of diplomatic moves very reminiscent of the days of the " Cold War ".   Meng Wanzhow has been freed on bail in Canada and the fate of the Canadians in China awaits the decision to extradite her to America.

Perhaps a timely warning to Australian travellers.  China is now a favoured tourist destination and so are many other countries where issues are mired in controversy.  We need to be fully aware that should one of these issues suddenly evolve into acrimony because of something an Australian politician said, or a local event brings the issue to prominence we may become a pawn in the actions that follow.

Acrimony can have many causes. Religion is always a powder keg waiting to blow and we would be wise to avoid countries where religion is an issue that may be dangerous preceding the holding of elections.  Many of our Asian neighbours have an uneasy relationship between the government and the governed and are quick to impose martial law.  There is little our diplomatic missions can do to help if one of these situations suddenly arises.

This Canadian imbroglio illustrates how quickly a diplomatic storm may erupt without prior warning. Canada has had the bad luck to be the venue where a Chinese woman of quasi government importance was served with an arrest warrant and it is its courts that will have to determine where the issue progresses from there.  It is those Canadian courts that will determine if she is freed, or if she is put on a plane in handcuffs and sent over the border into the United States.

Australians in holiday mode would be well advised to pick their destination carefully and pay close attention to world news while staying in another country.   The wise would decide to leave abruptly when they see danger signals brewing.