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《路透社》報導、並有多家國際媒體初步證實,美國政府和孟晚舟的代表律師雙方,就孟晚舟案達成共識。據透露是孟晚舟以視像方式「出席」美國紐約聯邦法院聆訊,將承認「不當行為」和繳交罰款,換取美方的「延期起訴協議」;而協議達成後,美方將放棄引渡申請,加拿大就會放人,意味著孟晚舟可能今個星期就能回到中國;加方放人後,兩名中國拘捕的加拿大「人質」也有可能獲釋,其中已被判刑的反正被判「監禁後驅逐出境」,現在自然可以「先執行」驅逐出境,相信另一人也可以獲類似安排。

假如一切屬實,這場世紀官司可能就這樣解決。那誰是贏家?

對美國而言,孟晚舟要是承認「不當行為」並賠款,表面上可以算是「彰顯公義」,但也要視乎孟晚舟具體的字眼如何。問題是此案本質上涉及華為作為中國政府白手套,從事國際關係的敏感交易,損害美國利益,要是孟晚舟一方純粹以技術直接、法律語言回應,美方就難以對國內交代此案的「初心」。美國法院要是鼓勵視像作供,其實早就不需要「引渡」,這種「特事特辦」的彈性,並不會令美國顯得更有說服力。當然,孟晚舟數個月前拒絕認罪,要是現在態度軟化,美國也可以說是「勝利」,不過恐怕輿論不會輕易收貨。

相反在中國,幾乎肯定大外宣、大內宣會全速開動,淡化孟晚舟道歉、認罪一類行為,而說是美國屈服。這角度也不無道理,畢竟美國是放棄了引渡,接受了「視像作供」,感覺上是屈服於中國壓力之下,而中方拘捕加拿大人質的「人質外交」,從效果而言,也會得到「肯定」。然後,中國會大而化之,宣傳西方「針對」華為的都是「陰謀」,從而宣傳這是「公義得到彰顯」、「美帝國主義只是紙老虎」。

至於剛勝出選舉、但依然是少數政府的加拿大杜魯多,表面上是避免了導向任何一方,也不用加拿大法院10月宣判,然而這對加拿大的國際地位,並無幫助。加拿大證明了自己沒有能力拯救被中國拘捕的兩名人質,也沒有能力影響中美的任何一方,到頭來在整個案件一無所獲,有點裏外不是人。杜魯多會嘗試說這是他「務實外交」的勝利,但反對黨定會追擊杜魯多的軟弱,這對加拿大能否加入「美英澳」三國安全同盟,也不見得有幫助。

然則,難道中國又是最大贏家?

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Green Tea

The target of holding hostages is to use human lives to override the rule of law. It is raw coercion: if you don’t do what I tell you to do I will harm you or the things that you value the most. A group of 19 high-profile Canadians urged Justice Minister David Lametti to intervene to free Meng. They wanted the government to ignore its treaty obligations in exchange for the 2 Michaels. Trudeau’s response was “such a move would embolden China to detain other Canadians to further its political goals”. Trudeau understood that if the coercion works once, there will be more such attempts and that will put more Canadians in peril. What Trudeau is telling CCP is that HOLDING HOSTAGE TACTIC WON’T WORK ON CANADA. There was great pressure on him to capitulate to China’s demands, but he recognized that he would not merely be giving over Meng, but surrendering the very principle of lawful process itself. Canada stuck to its principles, and in the end it held. Trudeau in fact comes out as the big winner in the matter. Biden came out looking not quite as strong in upholding the rule of law, as it does look like the prosecution compromised a bit by accepting a deferred prosecution agreement. However, no matter what US did, you could suspect political interference: if Meng was tried and acquitted, some people would say they let her off to appease China, and if she was tried and convicted, people would say they were punishing China. As it happened, the prosecutors decided they got what they needed from the deferred prosecution agreement. (This happens all the time; although cases should ideally be decided solely on the law, in practice prosecutors ALWAYS have to decide how to allocate their scarce resources and which cases to prioritize. So seeing that Huawei has already suffered losses for their alleged lawbreaking could well be an appropriate factor in their decision to withdraw the extradition request.) Strictly speaking, Biden should have had nothing to do with the prosecutors’ decision, but as a skilled and pragmatic politician, he was able to use their decision to his advantage in rebuilding respect for U.S. legal process and while the appearance of having compromised on Meng LOOKS a little weak, it can still be turned into a demonstration of how the U.S. looks out for the interests of its allies (Canada). As for China, was it not obvious that the arrest of the 2 Michaels was completely a result of Meng’s detention in Canada? China wanted to use coercion to force Canada to give up her rule of law to let Meng go and she failed at that. Yes, Meng is back to China and that is what China wants, but at what cost? China showed that her own legal system is worthless. Everyone suspected (and was MEANT to suspect) that the two Michaels were being charged not for committing any actual crime, but to be used as bargaining chips, but when they were released mere hours after the deferred prosecution agreement, all doubt was removed. China has no actual legal principle, just raw coercive force dressed up with the superficial trappings of legality. And everyone saw the lie for what it was.

悉尼 袋鼠

(只係針對文章最後一段) 加拿大响正美國隔籬,國防早已外判俾美國,正確啲講係free-ride,四隻現役潛艇亦係為英國陳年二手貨,海面戰艦翻新得嚟亦老化。寫咁多句,就係要講,加拿大連QUAD呢啲策略性組織都無參與,佢哋亦無足夠地緣誘因及迫切性,去更新海軍艦隊,所以中短期內,係唔存在參與AUKUS之類嘅軍事聯盟(反而日本有自家船艦,係AUKUS盟約之外嘅另一個重要盟友)