Chinese prosecutors confirmed having charged two Canadian citizens who had been detained following spying allegations. Since inception of the case, China and Canada have been having shaky diplomatic ties.
The two include, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and Michael Spavor, a businessman. The two were apprehended in 2018 on state security charges. Their arrest happened shortly after Canada arrested embattled chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, Meng Wanzhou.
Canada arrested the CFO who adds up as daughter of the company’s founder while she was in Vancouver, Canada after U.S issued an arrest warrant upon her.
Ever since Wanzhou was arrested, China has been pleading for her release continuously further threatening Canada of consequences for assisting U.S in arresting the CFO.
Late last year, China said it had finished an investigation concerning the two Canadians handing the case over to prosecutors. Spavor’s case is being taken care in the northeastern province of Liaoning, while that of Kovrig is being handled by Beijing based prosecutors.
Citing reports posted by the Chinese prosecutors, Spavor has been charged for illegally spying on national secrets and distributing them outside China. On the other end, Kovrig is charged with spying on national secrets for organizations outside China.
Since the two have been charged, the next process in judicial proceedings is for them to stand an official trial. Canada terms their arrest as arbitrary.
In the beginning of the month, China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu said the two detained Canadians were in perfect health but consular visits had been temporarily halted due to breakout of coronavirus.
