Ottawa settles with one of ‘two Michaels’ in China espionage row

OTTAWA: Ottawa on Wednesday reached a settlement with a Canadian who was jailed in China for nearly three years and claimed he had been unwittingly used for intelligence gathering.

Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained by Beijing in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of a senior Huawei executive on a US warrant.

After all three of them were freed in September 2021 Spavor blamed Kovrig for his detention.

Spavor, a businessman with connections to high-ranking members of the North Korean government, said he was arrested by China because he passed along information to Kovrig – who then passed that information on to the Canadian government, unbeknownst to Spavor.

Canadian foreign ministry spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said Wednesday that the government “is committed to supporting (the two Michaels) in their efforts to turn to a new chapter in their lives based on their individual circumstances and impacts, and in acknowledgement of their ordeal and the suffering caused by their arbitrary detention by China.”

Spavor’s lawyer John Phillips said simply that “the matter has been resolved.”

No details were provided, but the Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Canadian government agreed to pay Spavor Can$7 million (US$5 million).

AFP has also reached out to Kovrig for comment.

At the time of their detention, Ottawa rejected spying charges leveled against the two Michaels.

Last November, when it was revealed that Spavor was seeking compensation from the Canadian government for his detention, the government maintained both men’s innocence.

Spavor lived in China near the North Korean border and was among only a handful of Westerners who has met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

He ran a tourist travel business, helping arrange visits including by former basketball star Dennis Rodman to the isolated country.

Kovrig served as a diplomat in Beijing from 2012 to 2014, and would have in the course of his duties collected information on security and stability issues in China.

Ottawa does not consider this to be covert intelligence work.

Kovrig was on leave from his job as a diplomat and working for the International Crisis Group when he was arrested in China.