Canadians held for spying shared photos of military equipment, Chinese tabloid says

Convicted spy Michael Spavor was a ‘key informant’ for fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, Global Times says

Kovrig was also held in 2018 and later charged with espionage. The verdict on his trial in March has yet to be announced

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Protesters hold up posters bearing photos of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig outside the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver ahead of an appearance by Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on March 6, 2019. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:03pm, 2 Sep 2021Updated: 6:11pm, 2 Sep 2021

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, convicted of espionage in August, was a “key informant” for countryman Michael Kovrig and provided photographs of military equipment to him, China’s nationalistic tabloid Global Times said on Thursday.

The photos and images Spavor took of the equipment were state secrets and he also provided the photos to people outside China, the paper said, citing an unidentified source.

Both Spavor and Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, were detained in December 2018 and later charged with espionage.

China arrested the pair soon after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, on a US warrant and charged her with sanctions-related fraud.

China rejects the allegation that the cases of the two Canadians are linked to Meng’s and has released few details on either.

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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