Detained Canadians are ‘spies’

China yesterday accused two detained Canadians of stealing state secrets, a serious allegation that comes just days after Canada said it would proceed with the extradition case against a top Chinese executive.

The charges will only intensify concerns that Beijing is exacting revenge against Canada for detaining Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies.

Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who had been working as a China analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank, ‘‘had spied on and stolen sensitive information and intelligence through contacts in China,’’ according to a statement from the Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

Michael Spavor, a Canadian businessman who promoted exchanges with North Korea, was Kovrig’s ‘‘main intelligence contact’’ and had provided intelligence to him, the statement said.

Kovrig and Spavor were detained on December 10, just 10 days after Meng was arrested at the Vancouver airport while in transit.

Kovrig and Spavor, meanwhile, have been detained in Beijing and Dandong, on the North Korean border, respectively.

They have been denied access to their families and to lawyers, and have been kept in cells with the lights on round the clock. Consular officials, however, have been permitted to make several short visits to both men.

Kovrig, who was based in Hong Kong, has travelled to China frequently since 2017 with a regular passport and a business visa.

Spavor had been running Paektu Exchanges, a company based in Dandong that he founded to promote cultural, sporting and business contacts with North Korea. – Washington Post