US Should Not Finalize China Trade Deal Unless Detained Canadians are Released: Trudeau

A man holds a placard calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig outside a court hearing for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Canada, on March 6, 2019. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

OTTAWA—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Dec. 19 that the U.S. government should not finalize a trade deal with China unless the pact also secured the release of two Canadians detained by Beijing.

The two men were picked up separately in December 2018, shortly after police in Vancouver held Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. arrest warrant. The two Canadians face state security charges.