Spavor settles after three-year detention

The lawyer for Michael Spavor says his client has reached a settlement with the federal government over his three-year detention in China.

John Phillips says in an email that the matter between Spavor and the federal government has been “resolved.”

He did not elaborate and no other details were immediately available; media reports suggest the settlement is worth as much as $7 million.

China detained Spavor and diplomat Michael Kovrig — who became known as “The Two Michaels” — in 2018, days after Canada’s detention of a Chinese executive on a U.S. extradition warrant.

Spavor and Kovrig were eventually charged with espionage-related offences, but their detention was seen globally as a retaliatory move against Canada.

Despite China’s denials, the world rallied behind Canada and the Michaels, condemning Beijing’s move. In a show of solidarity, dozens of diplomats from around the world ringed the Beijing courthouse in protest when Kovrig was being tried behind closed doors.

The belief that the Michaels were held in retaliation was cemented when they were released in tandem with the executive Meng Wanzhou after she reached a plea deal in the U.S. on criminal fraud charges.

That led a Canadian court to drop the extradition case against her.

Last November, The Globe and Mail reported that Spavor was threatening to sue Canada on the grounds Kovrig’s diplomatic work — which the story described as “intelligence work” — was the reason he was detained.

Kovrig has remained largely out of the spotlight since his release in 2021, but said he could not stay silent in the face of the story.

The creation of a media narrative calling into question not just his own work but that of diplomats worldwide creates a dangerous situation, Kovrig said.

The Star was unable to independently confirm the Globe and Mail’s report.

Kovrig was firm: “I was never involved in espionage activities.”

At the time of his detention near the China-North Korea border, Spavor was running a non-governmental organization focused on cultural and business exchanges involving North Korea.

Spavor interacted with numerous foreigners, including diplomats from various countries, as one of the few Westerners with a window into that world, Kovrig said, and people were eager to learn from his assessments.