China has formally charged two Canadians with spying, officials said Friday, more than 18 months after they were arrested in a spat between Beijing and Ottawa, reports AFP.
The pair were detained shortly after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on a US warrant, in what is widely believed to have been a retaliatory move from China.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate said Friday it has begun the prosecution of ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, who were “suspected of foreign espionage” and “providing state secrets”.
The move comes just weeks after a key ruling in the Meng case where a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead.
The United States wants Meng extradited to face trial on charges related to the Chinese telecom equipment maker’s alleged violations of US sanctions against Iran.
Diplomatic relations between Canada and China have hit rock bottom over the arrests, damaging trade between the countries.
China’s Embassy in Ottawa accused the United States of trying “to bring down Huawei”. China has also blocked billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian agricultural exports.
The arrests of Kovrig and Spavor nine days after Meng was taken into custody have been widely decried as retribution.
While the eldest daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has been out on bail and living in a mansion in Vancouver, the two Canadians remain in China’s opaque penal system.
