Chinese prosecutors have charged two Canadians with spying on Friday, after more than eighteen months of detention by the authorities. Michael Spavor, a businessman, and Micheal Kovrig, former diplomat, have been held in China since December 2018.
The arrest of these two men came a few days after Meng Wanzhou, the chief executive of tech giant Huawei at the request of the US, was detained in Vancouver. However, Beijing has denied that the arrests were retaliation to Meng’s arrest.
Canada has called the arrests “arbitrary”. Both the Canadians have been charged with providing information to “outside entities” and “spying on national secrets. The Communist Party of China completely controls the judicial system of the country, and once defendants are charged, it has a conviction rate of 100 percent.
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The chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Vancouver on December 1, 2018. She was detained at the request from Washington, and it has accused Meng of breaking Iranian sanctions. However, she is still fighting extraditions to the United States.
A few days after the arrest of Meng, on December 10, the two Canadians were detained by the Chinese authorities. In May 2019, they were formally arrested. The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in September, accused Beijing of using arbitrary detention as a tool to achieve political goals.
Meanwhile, the Crisis Group, Michael Kovrig’s employer, says on its website that he has not seen his family or his lawyer since detention and added that he only has periodic consular visits. The group further said that Kovrig’s duties involved meeting important Chines officials, analysts, and academics from various state institutions.
He is also often seen on Chinese televisions to comment on regional situations and issues. At the invitation of multiple Chines organizations, he has attended numerous conferences. The statement on the company’s website added, “Nothing Michael does have harmed China.”
It was reported in April 2019 that both men were interrogated for more than 8 hours a day and were occasionally subject to 24-hour artificial lighting. However, the authorities in Beijing have asserted that both men are in good health.
Separately, the Canadian court ruled last month that Meng’s case could go forward. A judge highlighted that the case has the threshold for double criminality, meaning the charges would be crimes both in Canada and the United States.
Richard Peck, Meng’s lead defense lawyer, argued that Canada is effectively being asked to enforce the sanctions imposed by the US. Meng Wanzhou also released an open letter, a year after her arrest, detailing her life in detention at her residence in Vancouver.
In the letter, she said, “I’m no longer afraid of the unknown.” Meng further added that now she finally has the chance to complete a book page-by-page and carefully complete a painting.
