Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada will stand up to China in a deepening diplomatic and trade spat, while renewing calls for de-escalation of Hong Kong protest tensions.

"We must recognize that China is a growing power and increasingly assertive towards its place in the international order. But make no mistake: we will always defend Canadians and Canadian interests," Trudeau said in a speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.

"We have a long history of dealing directly and successfully with larger partners. We do not escalate, but we also don't back down," he said.

The two nations have been locked in a feud since December 2018 when Canada detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a flight stopover in Vancouver.

The US is seeking her extradition to face fraud charges for allegedly violating Iran sanctions and lying about it to US banks — accusations that her lawyers dispute.

In apparent retaliation, China arrested two Canadian nationals and accused them of espionage, while blocking billions of dollars in Canadian agricultural shipments.

On Sunday, Beijing warned Ottawa to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs after Canada and the European Union issued a joint statement in support of protestors' "fundamental right of assembly."

The semi-autonomous southern Chinese city has endured weeks of protests triggered by a government bid to introduce a law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

The demonstrations have evolved into a movement for democratic reform and an end to eroding freedoms, in the most significant challenge to Beijing's rule since the city's handover from Britain in 1997.

Canadians are one of the largest expatriate groups in Hong Kong, numbering 300,000, according to Canadian government figures.

Canada accused of unlawfully questioning Huawei's Meng
Ottawa (AFP) Aug 21, 2019 –

Lawyers for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou alleged in court documents released Wednesday that she was unlawfully detained and questioned by Canadian border agents in Vancouver last year.

Border agents detained her under the pretense of an immigration matter and never alerted her to a US warrant for her arrest, questioning her for hours before eventually handing her over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the lawyers said.

"From the outset of the applicant's detention," the RCMP and border agents were acting on behalf of "the FBI for the purpose of obtaining and preserving evidence," Meng's lawyers said.

"The question that remains is to what extent and how the FBI were involved in this scheme."

Surveillance video released by the court showed Meng moving through the Vancouver airport customs and immigration area, and being escorted and questioned by border agents.

The United States wants to put Meng — who was detained on a US warrant in December 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver — on trial for fraud for allegedly violating Iran sanctions and lying about it to US banks — accusations her lawyers dispute.

Court documents showed that US-based Citigroup and French bank BNP Paribas were among four banks allegedly misled by Meng about Huawei's business dealings in Iran in breach of US sanctions.

HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered had been previously named in the case.

Meng's detention provoked a diplomatic row between Canada and China. Her extradition hearing is scheduled for January.