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Associated Press

Agence France-Presse

Two Canadians, freed from years of detention in China as part of a three-way deal involving the US, arrived in their country on Saturday and were greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
TV footage aired by CTV showed Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor arriving in Calgary in western Canada in the wee hours of Saturday when it was still dark.
The two men, wearing suits and face masks, were greeted and hugged warmly by Trudeau at the airport. They also exchanged elbow bumps with the prime minister.
Government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the nation’s spy agency, tweeted welcome messages to the pair.
‘Finally, I am home’: Meng Wanzhou lands in China to hero’s welcome
“It’s fantastic to be back home in Canada and I am immensely grateful to everybody who worked hard to bring both of us back home,” a noticeably thinner Kovrig said after a Canadian government plane landed in Toronto and he was greeted by his wife and sister.
Kovrig is a former diplomat who works for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank. Spavor is a founding member of Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organisation that facilitates ties with North Korea.
The men were detained in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, on a US extradition request.
Many countries labelled China’s action “hostage politics”, while Beijing has described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back Chinese economic and technological development.


The men’s return home was the culmination of a deal that saw Canada release Meng, who was also headed home to China on Saturday.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, was granted release in a Vancouver court hearing after three years of house arrest in Canada while fighting extradition to the US.
She touched down on Saturday night in China to a hero’s welcome. The event, broadcast live by state media, dominated nine out of the top ten trending hashtags on the Chinese social media site Weibo. The tallest building in the city lit up with scrolling slogan “Welcome Home, Meng Wanzhou” across its facade.
US-China relations: what comes next after release of Huawei’s Meng?
The chain of events involving the global powers brought an abrupt end to legal and geopolitical wrangling that has roiled relations between Washington, Beijing and Ottawa.
The three-way deal enabled China and Canada to each bring home their own detained citizens while the US wrapped up a criminal case against Meng that for months had been mired in an extradition fight.
“These two men have been through an unbelievably difficult ordeal. For the past 1,000 days, they have shown strength, perseverance and grace and we are all inspired by that,” Trudeau said of the two Canadians.

Former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, Kovrig’s former boss, said he was elated the two Canadians are home.
“Clearly, the Chinese were so eager to get Meng back that they jettisoned all pretensions that the two Michaels had been arrested for good reasons. They must acknowledge that their reputation has been severely tarnished,” Saint-Jacques said.
“There is grumbling in the Communist party of China, people saying, ‘In which direction are we going, Xi Jinping? We are creating too many enemies. Why are we enemies with countries like Canada and Australia?’”
Saint-Jacques said he thought China would think twice before using “hostage diplomacy” again.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


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Canada

Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor freed by China arrive home

Former diplomat Michael Kovrig meets his wife Vina Nadjibulla and sister Ariana Botha upon his return to Canada on September 25, 2021. Photo: Reuters

(COMBO) This combination of file pictures created on September 24, 2021 shows Canadian businessman Michael Spavor (L) walking at Beijing International Airport on January 13, 2014 after arriving from North Korea and an undated portrait picture released on December 11, 2018 in Washington by the International Crisis Group showing former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig. - The two Canadians, imprisoned in what China's Western critics branded "hostage diplomacy", were headed home on September 24, 2021 after being released, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. The pair had "left Chinese airspace, and they're on their way home," he told a news conference in Ottawa. (Photos by WANG Zhao and Julie DAVID DE LOSSY / various sources / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / CRISISGROUP/Julie David de Lossy" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

US-China relations: what comes next after release of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou?

Meng Wanzhou leaves court in Vancouver after being cleared to head back to China. Photo: Reuters

Supporters of Canada’s ‘two Michaels’ Spavor and Kovrig express relief but condemn China’s ‘arbitrary detention’

Supporters of the two men outside a court hearing for Meng Wanzhou in 2019. Photo: Reuters

FILE - In this file image made from a March 2, 2017, video, Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, talks during a Skype interview in Yanji, China. Two Canadians detained in China on spying charges have been released from prison and flown out of the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, hours after a top executive of Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies resolved criminal charges against her in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this file image made from a March 28, 2018, video, Michael Kovrig, an adviser with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based non-governmental organization, speaks during an interview in Hong Kong. Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians detained in China on spying charges, have been released from prison and flown out of the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, hours after a top executive of Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies resolved criminal charges against her in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department. (AP Photo/File)

No crime and no punishment as Meng Wanzhou admits wrongdoing without guilt

Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou leaves court at the conclusion of a hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 24. Photo: Reuters

As Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou enters Chinese airspace, foreign ministry slams ‘arbitrary detention’

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver on Friday morning. Photo: Ian Young

U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly presides over a hearing for Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, which Meng attended virtually from Canada, at Brooklyn's Federal District Court in a courtroom sketch in New York, U.S., September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

An unscheduled Air China 777, carrying Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, takes off from Vancouver International Airport, bound for China, on Friday afternoon. Photo: SCMP

An unscheduled Air China 777, carrying Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, taxis at Vancouver International Airport before taking off for China on Friday afternoon. Photo: SCMP

Meng Wanzhou’s shock release may not improve China’s relationships with US or Canada, analysts say

Protesters outside an extradition hearing for Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in 2019 calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: A Huawei logo is seen on a cell phone screen in their store at Vina del Mar, Chile July 18, 2019. REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido/File Photo

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Filer of (L) Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Photo: Facebook

(210726) -- TIANJIN, July 26, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng (3rd R) holds talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (3rd L) in north China's Tianjin on July 26, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

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Kovrig and Spavor, who were detained by Beijing for more than 1000 days, arrived in Calgary on Saturday
The pair were greeted and hugged by PM Justin Trudeau at the airport



Kovrig and Spavor, who were detained by Beijing for more than 1000 days, arrived in Calgary on Saturday.


Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor freed by China arrive home

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Kovrig and Spavor, who were detained by Beijing for more than 1000 days, arrived in Calgary on Saturday The pair were greeted and hugged by PM Justin Trudeau at the airport

Kovrig and Spavor, who were detained by Beijing for more than 1000 days, arrived in Calgary on Saturday

The pair were greeted and hugged by PM Justin Trudeau at the airport