Chinese prosecutors charge two Canadians with spying

CHINESE prosecutors have charged two detained Canadians with spying in an apparent bid to step up pressure on Canada to drop a US extradition request for a Huawei executive under house arrest in Vancouver.

Michael Kovrig was charged in Beijing with spying for state secrets and intelligence, and Michael Spavor was charged in Dandong, a city near the North Korean border, with spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.

Asked what evidence China had against the two, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said only that each is charged with “secretly gathering state secrets for overseas forces with particularly serious consequences”.

“The facts are clear and the evidence solid and sufficient,” he told reporters at a daily briefing.

Canadian prime minister Justin

Trudeau said he was “very disappointed” by China’s move and called it a very difficult time for the two Canadians and their families.

“This is an important issue that we will keep working on,” he said. “Not just directly with the Chinese government but alongside our friends and allies around the world who are equally concerned about this arbitrary decision.”

Both men have been held for 18 months. They were detained shortly after the December 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested at the request of US authorities who want her on fraud charges related to trade with Iran.

A Canadian judge ruled this month that the US extradition case against Meng could proceed to the next stage.