Thank you very much for the question.
I would take this moment to thank all of you for your very kind statements about me. The support of Parliament and of all Canadians was immensely helpful to me in going through that ordeal. I'm deeply grateful.
The short answer to your question is, no, the Chinese Communist Party is manifestly not a reliable partner for the fundamental reason that systemically—it's not about the individuals involved—it does not have checks and balances, transparency or democratic accountability. Its attitude toward the rule of law and its world view are fundamentally different from that of any country with a Westminster-style Parliament, whether common law or civil law.
The law in China and in the eyes of the Communist Party is simply another political tool. It's an instrument of power. International treaties, accords and consular agreements, for example, are just paper. They're adhered to only if it's seen as being within the political interests of the Communist Party to adhere to them. It is not a system that fundamentally respects contracts. I can use the example of my own case. In detaining me, China violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Canada-China consular agreement and a number of human rights covenants to which it is a signatory. That's just one small example. The regime routinely violates accords. Another example, of course, is in the South China Sea, in which it ignored the ruling of the international tribunal in a dispute with the Philippines, and it has proceeded to do so.
It will follow laws and rules when it is convenient, but as we've seen, particularly with its role in the World Trade Organization, it often creates the useful semblance of being a guardian and supporter of globalization and the rules-based order while actively undermining and exploiting these things from within. This creates critical problems for it as a potential partner, trading or otherwise, for Canada.