China detains husband, wife on bail
Beijing • A Canadian man with ties to a Christian group that provides humanitarian aid to North Koreans has been formally detained by China on suspicion of stealing state secrets, while his wife, also Canadian, was released on bail after they were held for six months without charge, China’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt from Vancouver ran a coffee shop in Dandong, northeastern China, on the border with North Korea, before they were arrested in August by the state security bureau on suspicion of espionage. Their detention drew international condemnation and strained ties between Canada and China.
Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Mr. Garratt was moved from mandatory residential surveillance into criminal detention Tuesday “on suspicion of stealing and spying to obtain state secrets” and his wife was granted bail on the same day.
“The relevant Chinese authorities will handle the case according to the law and ensure their legitimate rights according to the law,’’ Mr. Hong said Thursday at a daily news briefing in Beijing. “Currently, the case is undergoing further inquiries.”
The Garratts have not been formally arrested and no charges have been filed, the family said in a statement released through their lawyer, James Zimmerman, who is based in Beijing. “No evidence of any crime has been provided to the Garratts, family members, or their lawyers of any criminal conduct,” the statement said.
Ms. Garratt has been barred from leaving mainland China for one year. Her husband has been relocated to “a more formal detention centre at an unknown location,” the statement said.
The moves come amid a widening crackdown on foreign Christian organizations providing aid to North Koreans along the politically sensitive border.
The Garratts moved to Dandong about six years ago after living in China on and off since 1984, says their son Simeon. They opened Peter’s Coffee House, named for their younger son, which became a hub for expatriates and locals interested in improving their English. They also worked with North Star Aid, a humanitarian group that delivers food to North Koreans.
Their relocation to Dandong was divinely inspired, Mr. Garratt said in a sermon once posted on the website of the Terra Nova Church in Surrey, B.C., but since removed.
“God said, in a prayer meeting, ‘ Go to Dandong and I’ ll meet you there,’ and he said start a coffee house,” Mr. Garratt said. “[W]e’re trying to reach North Korea with God, with Jesus and with practical assistance.”