Chinese Diplomat Liu Should be declared Persona Non Grata in Canada

by David Kilgour
Media Conference
Charles Lynch Room, Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa

Yesterday, David Matas and I wrote to Foreign Minister Cannon about the fact that Chinese Diplomat Liu should be declared Persona Non Grata in Canada . The key points of our letter are:

• Liu Shaohua, first secretary of the education section in the embassy in Ottawa, rallied Chinese students to suppress peaceful protests during President Hu Jintao's recent visit. His efforts led to threats and intimidation against Falun Gong practitioners and others by the students.

• Foreign diplomats can be expelled for any reason, or no reason. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, in Article 9, says: "The receiving State may at any time and without having to explain its decision, notify the sending State that the head of the mission or any member of the diplomatic staff of the mission is persona non grata or that any other member of the staff of the mission is not acceptable."

• The question Lui’s behaviour poses is not what the Government of Canada can do, but rather what the Government of Canada should do. In our view, there is more than enough evidence to justify expulsion of Liu.

Read More