‘He’s not a spy or secret agent’: Michael Spavor charges in China concern North Korea watchers

Name: China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’
Uploaded: 2020-06-19T11:30:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 6 s
Description: China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’

The Canadian entrepreneur, who knows Kim Jong-un personally, was charged with espionage, along with former diplomat Michael Kovrig

China denies any links to Canada’s detention of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, but a friend said Spavor is a victim of an ‘international power struggle’

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Canadian Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, has been detained in China since December 2018. Chinese authorities have moved ahead with his prosecution on spying charges. Photo: Twitter

John Power

Published: 7:30pm, 19 Jun 2020Updated: 10:42pm, 19 Jun 2020

Friends and North Korea watchers have expressed disappointment and concern after Chinese authorities announced spying charges against Michael Spavor, a Canadian entrepreneur and pro-engagement advocate known for his personal relationship with Kim Jong-un.

China’s top prosecutor said on Friday it had begun the prosecution of Spavor for stealing and providing state secrets to foreign countries, as well as proceedings against former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig for gathering state secrets and intelligence.

The two Canadians have been in Chinese custody since being arrested in December 2018, in a move widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as she awaits possible extradition to face fraud charges in the United States. Ottawa has described the arrests as “arbitrary” and called for their immediate release.

Beijing has denied there is any link to Meng’s case, but has demanded the executive’s release, accusing Canada of working with the US to suppress Huawei, which Washington and its allies have labelled a national security threat.

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China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’

Spavor is being prosecuted by Dandong Procuratorate in Liaoning province while the Second Branch Court of the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing filed a prosecution against Kovrig. Both face potential maximum sentences of life in prison. Guilty verdicts are all but assured in a judicial system with conviction rates above 99 per cent.