Son of detained Canadian couple, going to Beijing same time as Harper
November 4, 2014 Updated : November 5, 2014
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper sits down for talks with the Chinese president this week, the son of a Canadian couple detained in China will be heading to the country in a move he hopes will put pressure on authorities to grant his parents access to legal counsel.
Simeon Garratt, who lives in Vancouver, said he decided to book a last-minute ticket to Beijing to coincide with Harper’s third official visit to China this week.
“The timing made sense,” Garratt told Metro on Tuesday. “There’s really going to be no other chance that’s going to be exactly like this with such a strong Canadian presence.”
Kevin and Julia Garratt were arrested in China on Aug. 4 on suspicion of stealing state secrets about the country’s military and defence research.
Their detainment makes little sense, said Garratt, as the couple, who have lived and worked in China for the past 30 years, spend their days running a coffee shop and have never been in a position to gain access to classified government information.
Since they were detained, Garratt said his parents have been kept almost entirely isolated from each other. Authorities recently allowed the couple to have breakfast together last week, and have increased their outdoor time to 30 minutes a day.
“It’s very isolated and it’s very mentally straining on them, I think,” he said.
Consular officials have met with the couple but information about the case is scarce, which Garratt said is frustrating, especially since Chinese authorities haven’t laid any charges. His parents are also being denied access to legal counsel, he said.
Garratt said he hopes to meet with high-level embassy officials during his six-day trip to bring up his concerns.
“I think having the prime minister there and having these high-level talks will help flesh out some of the details of the situation,” he said.
At the very least, Garratt said Canada should push hard for his parents to have access to legal counsel.
In a recent press release that announced his trip, Harper made no mention of human rights, nor did he speak to any human rights issues during the four minutes that photographers spent in his office with Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui.
However, many analysts say it is not unusual for Western leaders to raise human rights issues with Chinese leaders in a way that allows for some saving of face and may bring long-term results, like the freeing of prisoners.
Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Caitlin Workman said she could not comment on Garratt’s upcoming trip to Beijing, but said the department is continuing to provide consular assistance and is raising the case at senior levels.
- With files from The Canadian Press.
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