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Ottawa has condemned the cases of Michael Spavor (pictured) and Michael Kovrig as “arbitrary detention” and “coercive diplomacy” by China. Spavor’s trial in March lasted less than three hours and Canadian diplomats were denied access. Photo: AP

Chinese court sentences Canadian Michael Spavor to 11 years after finding him guilty of spying

  • Businessman found guilty of ‘spying and illegal provision of state secrets abroad’, having faced a closed-door trial in March
  • Top diplomats from 25 countries visited the Canadian embassy in Beijing to show support for Spavor and Canada
Canada
A Chinese court has sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage, five months after a closed hearing in a case that helped plunge China-Canada relations to their lowest point in decades.

Spavor was found guilty of “spying and illegal provision of state secrets abroad” by the Liaoning court on Wednesday, and will also be fined 50,000 yuan (US$7,700) and deported. He has 10 days to appeal.

Canada’s ambassador Dominic Barton said he interpreted the inclusion of “deportation” in the sentencing as Spavor receiving an 11-year sentence then being deported afterwards, but that the embassy wanted to work towards a chance for the Canadian businessman to “get home earlier”.

According to Chinese criminal law, deportation may be applied “in an independent or supplementary manner” to foreigners found to have committed crimes.

In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the sentencing was “absolutely unacceptable and unjust”.

“The verdict for Mr Spavor comes after more than 2½ years of arbitrary detention, a lack of transparency in the legal process and a trial that did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by international law,” Trudeau said.

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China sentences Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years for spying

China sentences Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years for spying

Mo Shaoping, a Beijing-based lawyer, said that in general, if the Chinese court determined that at least one of the state secrets was classified as “top secret” and given to overseas actors, the minimum sentence would be 10 years. He said deportation of foreigners “usually takes place after the sentence is served but can happen earlier in special cases”.

The verdict came the day after a Chinese high court rejected the appeal of another Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, against being handed the death penalty after being convicted of drug smuggling.
It also came as court proceedings in Vancouver to determine whether to extradite Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou to the United States to face charges of bank fraud were reaching the final phase.

A Chinese government adviser said 11 years was a harsh sentence, and a sign that Beijing had little hope that the Meng case would end in China’s favour.

“The delivery of the verdict before Meng’s case has wrapped up seems to be saying that China has given up its expectations on the handling of [the case]. Relations between China and Canada are basically broken,” the adviser said on condition of anonymity.

China rejects Canadian Schellenberg’s appeal against death penalty

Stephen Nagy, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute based in Tokyo, said Spavor’s harsh sentence sent “the strongest of signals” to the courts in Canada dealing with Meng’s extradition proceedings that their decision would have an impact on those of Canadians detained in China.

“Most observers feel that the arrests of Kovrig and Spavor are politically motivated on the Chinese side, and it’s very difficult to negotiate based on hostage diplomacy because it sets a precedent where this can be used again and again,” he said.

Fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig has also been detained in China since December 2018 but no verdict on his case has been delivered.

Nagy said that because of the politicised nature of the cases in Canada, it was difficult for political leaders there to find back-door diplomatic solutions to handle the situation.

But Lu Xiang, a senior fellow of US studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that from China’s perspective, Spavor’s case was not an important factor in relations with Canada and sentencing was based on Chinese law.

“He has the right to appeal and he can fully utilise his rights in China, and Canada can support him in doing so,” he said. “But for Canada and other embassies to make trouble, and to use these methods to express their dissatisfaction, I think it is meaningless.”

Lu maintained Beijing’s position that the Spavor verdict was not connected to Meng’s case in Canada.

Barton was in court in northeastern China’s Dandong on Wednesday morning to hear the verdict, while top diplomats from 25 countries, including the US, Australia, Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, Lithuania and Estonia were in the Canadian embassy in Beijing in a show of support.

Barton said after meeting Spavor that he was “in good spirits” and just wanted to express that he wanted to go home.

“In terms of the sentence, we were very, very disappointed with that, as the range we were looking at was five to 20 years, so 11 years is a very long time,” he said. “We will continue to call for their [Spavor’s and Kovrig’s] immediate release and we will continue to work tirelessly to secure their freedom – that will be doubled down.”

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou and her narrow flight path to freedom

Spavor and Kovrig were detained in China in December 2018, only days after Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada on a US extradition request.

Spavor faced a closed-door trial in March, with Canadian diplomats being refused access to the court proceedings.

A lot of the evidence presented at Spavor’s trial involved photos he had taken “around airports or those places where one should not take photos” in China, and some had included military aircraft, Barton said.

Ottawa has condemned Spavor and Kovrig’s cases as “arbitrary detention” and “coercive diplomacy”, and said their immediate release remained a top priority for the Canadian government.

The US embassy in Beijing’s charge d’affairs David Meale said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” about Spavor’s sentencing and called for the immediate release of Spavor and Kovrig.

“These proceedings are a blatant attempt to use human beings as bargaining leverage, a practice roundly condemned by the global community and inconsistent with China’s international human rights commitments,” he said.

The European Union said China had to abide by its international legal obligations to guarantee procedural fairness and due process of law for Spavor.

“He was not permitted to appoint lawyers of his choice, and consular access while in custody was heavily restricted,” it said. “His right to a fair trial and due process, including the right to a public hearing, as guaranteed under international human rights law and China’s Criminal Procedure Law, has not been upheld.”

Beijing has accused Canada of having “grossly interfered in China’s judicial sovereignty” regarding the cases of the two Michaels and said that Meng was “arbitrarily and unreasonably detained” by Canada. The withdrawal of the US extradition request for Meng was one of the demands Chinese foreign vice-minister Xie Feng made during talks with US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman when she visited China in July.

Spavor had run a consulting business in Dandong, Paektu Cultural Exchange, that specialised in arranging cultural exchanges, tourism and investment involving neighbouring North Korea.

The fluent Korean speaker is known as one of the few Westerners to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, even sharing drinks with the dictator on his private yacht. In 2013 and 2014, Spavor arranged a number of high-profile visits to the country by the former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman, who described Kim as a “friend for life”.

Jon Dunbar, a South Korea-based newspaper editor who has known Spavor for more than a decade, described his friend’s imprisonment as “unfair”.

“I can’t really say how I feel. I do feel unsafe ever visiting China again, which is a shame because that is the easiest way to visit North Korea,” Dunbar said. “I doubt anything has actually changed. China will keep him as long as they need him, regardless of sentence or verdict, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this conflict ends with an actual prisoner exchange.”

Daniel Tudor, a friend of Spavor who runs an app start-up in Seoul, said he was not surprised by the verdict but felt “great sadness” over the “further torment” Spavor would face.

“I don’t know what he has done or is supposed to have done to deserve this treatment, but I don’t suppose that will make a difference either way,” he said.

Additional reporting by John Power and Wendy Wu

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Canadian jailed for 11 years on mainland over spyingCanadian handed 11 years’ jail for spying
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