Canadian faces spy ruling in Huawei saga

BEIJING — A Canadian entrepreneur who was charged with spying after his government arrested an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei faces a possible verdict Wednesday as Beijing steps up pressure on Canada ahead of a court ruling on whether to hand over the executive to face U.S. criminal charges.

Michael Spavor and another Canadian were detained in China in what critics labeled “hostage politics” after the executive’s 2018 arrest in connection with possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. On Tuesday, a court rejected the appeal of a third Canadian whose prison term in a drug case was abruptly increased to death following the executive’s arrest.

Canada and other governments including Australia and the Philippines face growing Chinese pressure including trade boycotts in disputes over human rights, the coronavirus and territorial claims. Washington has warned Americans they face “a heightened risk of arbitrary detention” in China for reasons other than to enforce the law.

Canadian Ambassador Dominic Barton said he would go to see Spavor in Dandong, about 210 miles east of Beijing on the North Korean border.

Asked when a ruling might come, Barton said, “our sense is, it’s tomorrow.” As for the second detained Canadian, former diplomat Michael Kovrig, the ambassador said, “we have not received any indication of that.”

Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd., was arrested Dec. 1, 2018, in Vancouver on U.S. charges of lying to the Hong Kong arm of the British bank HSBC about possible dealings with Iran in violation of trade sanctions. A judge in Vancouver is due to hear final arguments about whether Meng should be extradited to the United States.

China’s government says the arrest is part of U.S. efforts to hamper its technology development. Huawei, a maker of network equipment and smartphones, is at the center of U.s.-chinese tension over technology and security.