Kevin Garratt is a Canadian who was
operating a coffee shop in Dandong, a city in Northern China near the North Korean border. Garratt, a resident of China for 30 years, was
arrested and accused of espionage in 2014 shortly after Ottawa said it had reason to believe state-backed Chinese hackers were targeting Canadian government servers.
Canada says it has been speaking to Chinese officials about the case, but little is known about Garratt's fate.
After Wang's outburst, Globe and Mail reporter Robert Fife stepped up to the mic for his question direct at the Chinese minister, also predetermined by Canadian media, and began by giving Wang a diplomatic rebuke to his attack on Connolly.
"With greatest respect minister, in defence of my colleague here, polls in Canada show Canadians are very concerned about human rights in China," Fife said before starting his question. But Fife's statement was not relayed to the minister in Mandarin by the translator.
Fife also asked how China, which adamantly insists other nations stay out of its internal affairs, can insist Canada lift restrictions on Chinese state-owned enterprises investing in Canada and build an oil pipeline through B.C. as a precondition for any future talks on a free trade deal.
Wang denied such preconditions exist. Those conditions, however, have been
written about in Canadian media.
Wang did promise Fife he would find out a firm answer on whether such restrictions do exist.
Wang's promise ended his availability to the media. Reporters left buzzing about the minister's outburst.
At the event, China and Canada also jointly announced the two countries would cooperate further, establishing working teams on various topics including energy and agriculture and ring in a "golden age" of relations between the two nations.
During Wang's outburst, Stéphane Dion stood by silently. Dion's face was near expressionless as Wang, the representative of an unelected government whose laws Amnesty International has said "endanger human rights," berated a Canadian reporter in Canada for asking a Canadian minister about a detained Canadian.
Here are facts about the three issues raised in the question put to Dion.
Why China's Foreign Minister Flipped out in Ottawa Yesterday | The Tyee