China frees two Canadians detained since 2018 after Huawei case is resolved

Two Canadian citizens who were detained in China for espionage charges They were freed and evacuated from the country by plane, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hours after a senior executive at Chinese company Huawei Technologies reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice, which imposed prosecution. criminal.

Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei chief financial officer and daughter of the company founder, on the basis of a US extradition request.

Many countries thought that Beijing’s action was a “hostage policy”.

In the settlement with Meng, the Justice Department promised to drop the fraud charges by the end of next year in exchange for accepting responsibility for giving a false version on your company’s business in Iran.

In this context, Trudeau called a press conference on Friday, about an hour after Meng’s plane left Canada for China.

The deal with Meng, known as the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, resolves a multi-year legal and geopolitical struggle involving not only the United States and China, but also Canada, where Meng has remained since his arrest in Vancouver Airport in December. from 2018.

The deal came at a time when President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed on the need to reduce public signs of tension between the two countries.

even as the world’s two largest economies disagree on a wide range of issues, such as cybersecurity, climate change, human rights, trade and tariffs.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week, Biden said he had no plans to launch a “new cold war”, while Xi told world leaders that disputes between countries “must be dealt with through dialogue and cooperation.”

According to the regulations released by a federal court in Brooklyn, the Justice Department agreed to drop the fraud charges against Meng in December 2022, four years after his arrest.

This will apply as long as the Chinese executive fulfills certain conditions, including not contesting any of the government’s factual claims.

The Justice Department also agreed to withdraw its request to extradite Meng to the United States, ending a process that prosecutors say could have dragged on for months.

With AP information