China releases Canadians hours after Huawei boss does deal

Two Canadians detained in China on spying charges have been released from prison and flown out of the country, just hours after a top executive of Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies resolved criminal charges against her in a deal with the US.

Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, on a US extradition request.

The deal with Meng calls for the US Justice Department to dismiss fraud charges in exchange for Meng accepting responsibility for misrepresenting her company’s business dealings in Iran.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the release of Kovrig and Spavor about an hour after Meng’s plane left.