Michael Spavor granted Canadian consular visit a month after his detention in China
- Officials had been seeking consular access since his arrest on December 10, the same day as fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig
- Canadian government says it ‘remains deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities of these two Canadians’
Canadian consular officials visited Michael Spavor on Tuesday nearly one month after the Canadian’s detention in China, according to a statement from Canada’s government.
Spavor and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig were detained by Chinese authorities in separate incidents on December 10 and accused of endangering national security, nine days after Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou for possible extradition to the United States.
Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum, had visited Spavor on December 16, but Canada had been seeking consular access to him since his arrest. Canadian officials gained access to Kovrig on December 14, four days after his arrest.
“The Canadian government remains deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities of these two Canadians since last month and continues to call for their immediate release,” the Canadian government statement read.
Spavor, who runs a non-profit business focusing on North Korean cultural exchanges in the Chinese city of Dandong, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, was detained by the Liaoning state security bureau. He had been planning to visit Seoul to attend a conference, but did not arrive.