Mike Pompeo calls on China to release Canadians facing spying charges, calling Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor’s arrests ‘politically motivated and groundless’
- Pompeo called the charges against Kovrig and Spavor ‘politically motivated’ and ‘completely groundless’
- The two men were detained in 2018, nine days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on a US warrant
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday denounced Beijing’s decision to formally charge two Canadian nationals with spying last Friday as “politically motivated”.
“The United States is extremely concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) decision to proceed with formal charges against Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” Pompeo said.
Kovrig and Spavor were detained in China in early December 2018, nine days after Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver at the request of the US.
On Friday, more than 18 months after Kovrig and Spavor were first taken into custody, China announced formal charges against the two Canadians.
“These charges are politically motivated and completely groundless,” Pompeo said in a State Department announcement.
“The United States stands with Canada in calling on Beijing for the immediate release of the two men and rejects the use of these unjustified detentions to coerce Canada,” he said.
The case against the two Canadians is widely viewed in Washington and Ottawa as retaliation for Meng Wangzhou’s arrest.