A man calls for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor at a demonstration in Vancouver on Aug. 16, 2020.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The Canadian government has asked Beijing to clarify comments by a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who said Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have already been brought to court.
The men have been “arrested, indicted and tried,” Hua Chunying said Thursday.
But Ottawa has no evidence that the Canadians, who have now been detained for two years, have gone to trial, according to a diplomat in Beijing with knowledge of the situation. The diplomat is not being identified by The Globe and Mail because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
Ms. Hua’s remarks mirrored comments she made Dec. 1, when she said, “Chinese authorities arrested and prosecuted them and put them on trial because the two Canadians are suspected of crimes endangering China’s national security.”
At the time, the Chinese courts responsible for the two Canadians confirmed that their trials had not taken place, the diplomat said.
Why are Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor still detained in China? A guide to the story so far
After they were seized by state security agents on Dec. 10, 2018, Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor were interrogated for months before being taken to formal detention facilities, where they remain today – Mr. Kovrig in Beijing and Mr. Spavor in Dandong, a city on the North Korean border.
They were not formally charged until this June, when authorities laid espionage charges against them, and can be taken to trial at any time, with little notice.
The charges are punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison; in cases deemed serious, people found guilty of espionage in China can be sentenced to life behind bars. The Chinese justice system boasts a conviction rate of more than 99 per cent.
Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor were detained days after the arrest at the Vancouver airport of Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive whose extradition is being sought by the U.S. on fraud charges related to violations of that country’s sanctions against Iran.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne has accused Beijing of practising coercive diplomacy.
Chinese authorities have said the cases are not linked and have lashed out at criticism of their legal practices.
“The Canadian side’s accusations are just fact-distorting,” Ms. Hua said Dec. 1.
“The two Canadians are suspected of crimes endangering China’s national security,” she said. “Their lawful rights have been guaranteed during the whole process.”
“You are very concerned about these two cases and asked when they could go back to their country,” Ms. Hua said Thursday in reference to Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor.
“So in fact you can empathize and understand that the Chinese people are also very concerned about when Ms. Meng Wanzhou would be able to safely return to the motherland.”
She called the cases against the Canadians “a purely legal affair, dealt according to the law.” As for Ms. Meng, Ms. Hua described the case against her – backed by evidence filed by U.S. prosecutors in a public indictment – as “purely, from tip to toe, a political one.”
Michael Kovrig has been in Chinese detention for 1,000 days since being detained in December 2018, and has been even more isolated since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in China. In June 2020, The Globe spoke with his wife Vina Nadjibulla, who is spearheading efforts to have Mr. Kovrig released and returned to Canada. Note: This video has been updated with the latest milestone of 1,000 days in detention.
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