Playing a game without understanding the rules
Following the arrest of an important Chinese business person, over the weekend, I’m faced with trying to reconcile two very different things. I grew up watching TV westerns; one of the more important plot points was the work of the bounty hunter: to capture fugitives, strap them across the saddle horn and bring them back across state lines to meet with justice. So be it.
I’ve also read a number of “spy novels”, wherein people are kidnapped and discretely brought out to the Western world to, again, face justice. Probably not in the public sense, but that’s giving away the plot of the novel. We don’t get much in the way of actual information about the mechanics of the spy universe.
And then there’s this weekend mashup. A person who hasn’t actually been convicted was arrested by Canadian authorities to face extradition to the US. The person isn’t guilty, yet, but the handcuffs are in place and the travel arrangements are being made, right now. Again, keeping this simple…
The person is the #2 of one of China’s most important telecommunications firms. Larger than Apple, in sales of phones, if that’s even possible. And the government of China is not impressed. At all. Canada has waved a big red flag, on behalf of our neighbour, who doesn’t intend to protect our interests in any way, shape or form. If we get clobbered, financially, that’s just life.
I’m not impressed by this. If we now kidnap folks on behalf of the neighbour, are we still sovereign, or are we playing in a game where the rule book is unavailable for perusal?
