Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton paid a video visit to two Canadian citizens, Kang Mingkai and Spavor, who have been detained by China for nearly two years. The two men were arrested after Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, a former executive of the Chinese technology company Huawei, in what is widely believed to be retaliation by China against Canada.
According to Canadian media reports, Foreign Affairs Canada said in a press release that Mr. Baldwin visited Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on Nov. 10 and Nov. 19, respectively. However, the press release did not provide details of the visits.
The news of the visit was also confirmed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Canadian Foreign Ministry stated that the Canadian government is “deeply concerned” by the arbitrary detention of the two Canadian citizens and continues to call on the Chinese authorities to “release them immediately.
Mingkai Kang is a former Canadian diplomat and Spavor is a businessman. Both men were arrested by Chinese security authorities a few days after Meng’s arrest.
Meng is the daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, and was Huawei’s chief financial officer before her arrest. She was arrested in early December 2018 while transiting through a Canadian airport.
There is an extradition mechanism between Canada and the United States. The U.S. government found that Huawei had sold U.S. technology and equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, and that Meng Wanzhou was directly involved in the actual operation of the operation and was suspected of bank fraud. The U.S. government requested that Canada arrest Meng Wanzhou and then extradite her to the United States.
This incident led to a dramatic deterioration in Canada’s relations with China. China has accused Canada of not having the right to detain Meng Wanzhou, arguing that her arrest was a politically motivated operation orchestrated by Washington.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on Friday (Nov. 20): “No matter how much the Canadian government covers up the truth and misleads the public, it will never change the political nature of the Meng Wanzhou case, nor will it change the dishonorable role of the Canadian government in playing an accomplice and front man for the U.S. side in this case.”
Canada, for its part, insists that the arrest of Meng Wanzhou is purely a legal case and that the government has no right to interfere and can only let the judiciary follow the legal process. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau condemned Beijing’s arrest and persecution of Canadian citizens as “coercive” and “hostage diplomacy.
Following the arrests of Kang Mingkai and Spavor, Chinese authorities sentenced several Canadian citizens to death for drug trafficking and imposed various trade restrictions on Canada.
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