Canada denies reports that China has tried Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor
- Earlier remarks by a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman suggested that the two Canadians had been brought to court
- The ‘two Michaels’ were detained in China soon after the arrest of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, and Beijing has linked their fates to demands that she be released
Canada said Thursday that it has confirmed with China that two Canadians held for two years in China in a case linked to a Huawei executive have not been put on trial, contrary to remarks by a foreign ministry spokeswoman.
Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor have been confined by China since December 10, 2018, just days after Canada detained Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou, who is also the daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecommunications equipment giant.
Asked about the Canadians at a daily briefing on Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the two had been “arrested, indicted and tried”, in what appeared to be the first public assertion that they had been brought to court. The comments were reported by various media outlets.
Hua gave no details, and Canada’s Global Affairs Department issued a statement later on Thursday saying that Canadian Embassy officials in Beijing had spoken with the ministry, which confirmed that the men had not gone on trial.
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Chinese officials “confirmed that the confusion was caused by an inaccurate characterisation of the process made by the Chinese MFA spokesperson”, the statement said.