U.S. ‘stands in solidarity’ over Canadians detained in China

WASHINGTON—Neither Canada’s prime minister nor the U.S. secretary of state were showing their diplomatic cards Friday as the two countries discussed the plight of two Canadians languishing behind bars in China.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met virtually with Canadian officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, as part of the Biden administration’s post-Trump charm offensive.

The U.S. has a “significant role” to play in helping secure the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, said Trudeau, although he refused to elaborate on the details.

“These are processes that are ongoing,” the prime minister told a news conference earlier in the day.

“The United States is taking their role in this very seriously and we look forward to working with them on bringing the two Michaels home as soon as possible.”

Blinken, too, stayed in his diplomatic lane, expressing earnest American harmony with Canada and cheering a multilateral effort to denounce the practice of taking political prisoners.

“We stand in absolute solidarity with Canada in insisting on their immediate and unconditional release,” Blinken said before lavishing praise on the new Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention.

The declaration, a project initiated by former foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne, is from a coalition of more than 50 countries opposed to the state-sponsored political detention of foreign nationals.

Its purpose “is to bring countries together to stand against the arbitrary detention of individuals for political purposes, a practice that we see in a number of countries, including China,” Blinken said.

Spavor and Kovrig — the “two Michaels” — were swept up after the RCMP’s arrest in December 2018 of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Blinken demurred on the question of whether the U.S. is considering a so-called deferred prosecution agreement — a form of plea deal that could allow Meng to return to China in return for an admission of wrongdoing.