During Ottawa visit, Pompeo attacks China for detaining 2 Canadians

Canada will have the support of the United States until the two Canadians detained in China "are returned to their families," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeopromised Thursday while on a visit to Ottawa.

Pompeo, a high-profile memberof the Trump administration, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his counterpart Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland ahead of the G7 summit in France this weekend.

Canada has been soliciting help from foreign allies in theongoing dispute with China to secure the release of businessman Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat on leave. The twowere detained in China late last year after Canadian officials arrested Chinese telecom executive Meng Wanzhouat the Vancouver airport to face possible extradition to the United States.

"Our team is focused on helping those two Canadians be released. China needs to honour the commitmentsit's made to the world, and it is our expectation they'll do so, and we're working on it diligently," said Pompeo during a brief photo opportunity Thursday morning.

Pompeoalso made apoint of insisting that the cases of Kovrig and Spavorshouldn't be compared to Meng'sextradition case.

"[China] wants to talk about these two as if they are equivalent, as if they are morally similar, which they fundamentally are not," he said during a media availability on Thursday afternoon.

"These are fundamentally different matters than the Canadian decision to use their due process and the rule of law to behave in a way that's deeply consistent with the way decent nations work."

Watch: Freeland and Pompeo on China

Freeland and Pompeo on China

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland Thursday in Ottawa

The U.S., through a one-on-one conversation between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and"other diplomatic activity,"has told Beijing directly the arrest of the twoCanadians was inappropriate, said Pompeo.

"We'll continue to do that until such time as they're home and returned to their families," he said.

China lashes out at Canada

Hours before their meetings got underway in Ottawa,aChinese Foreign Ministry spokespersoncalled again for Meng's immediate release.

"We urge the Canadian side to reflect on its mistakes, take China's stern position and concerns seriously, and immediately release Meng Wanzhou so she can return home to China safely," said Geng Shung from Beijing.

"As a Chinese saying goes: Loudness is not necessarily persuasive, and justice naturally inhabits a man's heart."

The comments out of Beijing came in the wake ofaforeign policy speechTrudeau delivered on Wednesday. Addressing a gathering of the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Trudeau vowedthat Canada would stand up to China in a climate of increased bilateral tensions.

"We do not escalate, but we also don't back down," the prime ministersaid.

Geng also signalled Beijing's displeasure with Canada for commenting on the ongoing protests in Hong Kong and repeated his government's call for Canada to "stopinterfering in China's internal affairs."

On the weekend,Freeland and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogheriniissued a joint statement with the European Union in defence of the "fundamental right of assembly" for Hong Kong citizens.

The protestsbegan as a response to a bill that would have allowed authorities to extradite Hong Kong citizens accused of crimes to face trial in mainland China. The bill has been suspended, but the protests have morphed into a larger pro-democracy movement.

Trudeau will have a chance toonce againraise Canada's concerns with China with Trump when the two leaders hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.