China urged to free Canadian Michael Kovrig after year of detention
- International Crisis Group leaders write plea for Kovrig’s release in Washington Post commentary
- His detention has a ‘chilling effect’ on all those who would like to engage Beijing, they write
Current and former chiefs of anti-war, non-profit organisation International Crisis Group have urged China to free Canadian analyst Michael Kovrig, ahead of his first anniversary in jail in a case which has strained ties between Beijing and Ottawa and fanned fears among business travellers.
President Robert Malley and three of his predecessors called for the immediate release of Kovrig – a Hong Kong-based analyst for the Brussels-based research group and a former Canadian diplomat – in a commentary published on Wednesday in The Washington Post.
The executives, who include Louise Arbour, Gareth Evans and Jean-Marie Guehenno, argued that Kovrig’s detention by secret police on December 10, 2018 undercut efforts to better understand China at a time of growing global criticism.
“Michael’s unjust detention comes at a particularly sensitive time in terms of China’s role in the world,” the authors said. “When China violates the rights of a foreigner on its soil, and when it does so with such a thinly disguised ulterior motive, it inevitably has a chilling effect on all those who would like to engage Beijing, whether in diplomacy, business or other mutually beneficial interaction.”