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A Chinese court on Friday tried a Canadian businessman detained for more than two years on espionage charges, in a case that has sparked a global outcry and calls on the United States to intervene.
A court in Dandong, a city in northeast China, held the trial of Canadian Michael Spavor, who worked to promote cultural trips to North Korea before being arrested at the end of 2018, in retaliation apparent to Canada’s decision to arrest a top Chinese tech executive. at the request of the United States.
The court said in a terse statement that Mr Spavor had been tried for espionage and “unlawful disclosure of state secrets to foreign countries”. He said a verdict would be announced at a later date.
As a sign of China’s efforts to control the proceedings, authorities have banned the public and media from participating in the trial. A group of 10 diplomats representing eight countries, including Canada and the United States, tried to seek access to the trial in Dandong, a seaside town near the China-North Korea border, but were turned away. . The court said the trial, which lasted around two hours, was held in private because it involved state secrets.
“We are deeply disturbed by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings,” Jim Nickel, a senior official at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing who attempted to attend the trial, said in a statement.
Another Canadian, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat also detained in 2018, is due to stand trial in Beijing on Monday.
Since their detention, MM. Spavor and Kovrig are at the heart of a heated international conflict between China, Canada and the United States.
China, accusing Western countries of trying to thwart its rise as a tech superpower, is pressuring the United States to drop a massive fraud case against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The United States, which is seeking Ms. Meng’s extradition, called on China to release Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig.
“The trials of the two Michaels are a revenge for Ms. Meng,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, a veteran Canadian Ambassador to China who was Mr. Kovrig’s boss when he was First Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. “This is a message to Canada and to the world: ‘Don’t play with China’.”
The Canadians’ question is expected to arise when senior officials in the Biden administration met with their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage starting Thursday. Friends and relatives of Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig have called on President Biden and the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, to take action to secure their release.
US officials said on Friday they were “deeply alarmed” by China’s decision to continue the trials of Messrs. Spavor and Kovrig. “We are with Canada to demand their immediate release,” a spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Beijing said in a statement.
Any compromise with Beijing could be elusive, as China has shown no signs of backing down, instead using its lawsuits against the two to project an image of force and demand that the United States withdraw its extradition request for Ms. Meng.
“Beijing is making it clear that the two Michaels will be judged with Chinese characteristics: closed to the public and the media,” said Diana Fu, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. “His actions leave no doubt as to who will be the ultimate decision maker for the fate of Canadians – the Chinese Communist Party, not Biden, not Trudeau.
The imprisonment of the two men prompted Canada to call for tougher action against China. According to a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute, a major polling company, only 14% of Canadians have a favorable opinion of China. A majority see the release of the two Canadians by the Chinese government as a prerequisite for resetting relations.
“There is a backlash against China in Canada, and the lawsuit will only harden attitudes,” said Gordon Houlden, director emeritus of the Chinese Institute at the University of Alberta. He added that the case of the two Michaels underscored the limited influence of a middle power like Canada in the face of an economic and political monster like China.
Lawyers and human rights activists have denounced China’s treatment of Canadians, accusing Chinese officials of using “hostage diplomacy.” The two, held in separate prisons in northern China, have been largely cut off from the world and at times forced to go months without visiting diplomats. They had limited access to defense lawyers.
“Like so many cases where Chinese authorities seek to silence a critic or settle a score, these cases have nothing to do with the law,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
A self-proclaimed consultant, Mr. Spavor ran an organization in Dandong that promoted cultural travel to North Korea. He made high-level contacts there and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un once. In 2013, Mr. Spavor helped organize a visit to North Korea for former NBA star Dennis Rodman.
“Michael is just an ordinary Canadian businessman,” his family said in a statement ahead of trial on Friday. “He loved living and working in China and would never have done anything to offend the interests of China or the Chinese people. We stand behind Michael and maintain his innocence in this difficult situation.
Claire Fu and Albee zhang contributed to the research.
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