BEIJING—China said on Thursday that Canadian diplomats had no right to be present at a court hearing for a Chinese Uighur Muslim accused of terrorism who was awarded joint Canadian citizenship two years ago.
Yu Shanjiang, also known as Huseyincan Celil, fled China in the 1990s and traveled last year to Uzbekistan, where he was detained and then extradited back to China on terrorism charges.
China has not recognized his Canadian citizenship, which was obtained in 2005.
"Because Yu Shanjiang is a citizen of China, the consular agreement between China and Canada does not apply in this case," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who upset China last year with blunt criticism of its human rights record, said Ottawa considered Celil to be a Canadian.
"At all opportunities we have taken the time to raise his case, to express our concerns, to demand justice be done," he told Parliament.
Earlier this week officials said Harper was very unhappy that Canadian diplomats did not attend the court hearing in Urumqi, capital of the remote western Xinjiang Uighur region.
