Ambassador visits Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor detained in China
- par Thibaud Popelin
- dans Monde
- — Nov 20, 2020
A man holds a sign with photographs of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor as people gather for a rally in Vancouver, on August 16, 2020.
Canada's ambassador to China has visited two Canadians detained for nearly two years amid a dispute over the arrest of an executive of Chinese technology giant Huawei.
Global Affairs Canada says in a news release that Ambassador Dominic Barton was granted on-site virtual consular access to Michael Kovrig on Thursday and businessman Michael Spavor on November 10.
"The Canadian government remains deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities of these two Canadians since December 2018 and continues to call for their immediate release", a statement released on Thursday said.
Canada accuses China of arbitrarily arresting the two in order to pressure it into releasing Meng, who lives under a form of house arrest in Vancouver while she challenges a USA extradition order to face fraud charges related to trade sanctions on Iran.
China says Canada has no right to hold Meng, and says Kovrig and Spavor are suspected of national security crimes.
American officials say Huawei might facilitate Chinese spying, which the company denies and the administration has been lobbying European and other allies to exclude it and other Chinese suppliers as they upgrade their telecommunications networks.
On Friday, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian renewed China's accusation that Meng's detention was a politically motivated plot engineered by Washington.
Trudeau, who will also see the Chinese leader during the weekend's G20 summit being hosted by Saudi Arabia, said Joe Biden's election as US president is not a panacea for the many challenges now facing the United States and the world.
It also requires the government to introduce a plan to counter China's growing influence in Canada, similar to a plan introduced by Australia.
Canada's parliament has adopted a motion that requires the government to make a decision on Chinese company Huawei's participation in the development of the country's 5G network and to come up with a security strategy to counter Beijing's influence. His wife, Vina Nadjibulla, is spearheading efforts to have him released and returned home to Canada.
