Detained Canadians ‘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. The United States had put out a warrant for her extradition to face charges relating to allegations that Huawei had violated US export sanctions against Iran.
At the same time, the United States has been leading a campaign to get countries to block Huawei, which wants to roll out fifth-generation Internet technology worldwide, citing fears that the Chinese government could use the technology for spying.
The arrest of Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei’s founder, has incensed China. The company, which is the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment, is a national champion in China, encapsulating the rags-to-riches ‘‘Chinese dream’’ but also exemplifying how companies can move up the value chain.
Meng is confined to her home in Vancouver while she fights the extradition case.
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, the Chinese commission said in its statement. He ‘‘is suspected of spying and stealing national secrets for foreign agents and his behavior has severely violated Chinese law,’’ it said.
Spavor had been running Paektu Exchanges, a company based in Dandong that he founded to promote cultural, sporting and business contacts with North Korea. He was involved in organising former basketball star Dennis Rodman’s trip to Pyongyang in 2013 and spent hours with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during that visit.
The authorities ‘‘stressed that China is a country run by the rule of law and the country will resolutely crack down on criminal activities that jeopardise national security,’’ the report on the commission’s website said.
The announcement came after Canada said on Saturday that it would move ahead with an extradition hearing for Meng, a sign that its Justice Department thinks there is ‘‘sufficient evidence’’ to formally proceed.
Meng will appear in a Vancouver court on Thursday to schedule the date of the hearing, the department said. China’s Foreign Ministry again urged the United States to drop the extradition request. – Washington Post