Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig

The Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig occurred in December, 2018, when the two Canadian men were taken into custody in the People's Republic of China. Their detention and subsequent indictment under the state secrets law is widely regarded as an act of retaliation against Canada for its arrest of Huawei telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou, and has been cited as an instance of "hostage diplomacy."[1] The pair is frequently referred to as the Two Michaels.[2][3][4]

Following their detention in December 2018, the men were transferred to interrogation / torture facilities where they were interrogated and tortured for up to eight hours a day. The lights in their cells are reportedly left on 24 hours a day, and they have been denied access to consular officials and to their lawyers.[1] On June 19, 2020, the men were formally charged with spying on national secrets and providing state secrets to entities outside of China.[1][5]

Prior to his detention and arrest, Michael Kovrig was working for the International Crisis Group out of its Hong Kong office. He previously worked for the United Nations and as a Canadian diplomat.[6] Michael Spavor had been a consultant and the director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organization that promotes investment and tourism in North Korea.[7]

Background

The detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor followed the December 1, 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou by Canadian authorities. Meng was the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, founded by her father Ren Zhengfei.[8] She was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at the request of the United States, pursuant to the extradition treaty between Canada and the United States.[9][10] On January 28, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced financial fraud charges against Meng.[11][12] If proven guilty, Meng potentially faces up to 10 years' imprisonment per 18 U.S.C. § 1832.[13]

References
  1. Nathan Vanderklippe. China charges Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor with espionage. The Globe and Mail, June 20 2020.
  2. Jeremy Nuttall; Douglas Quan (24 June 2020). "'Two Michaels' fight is bigger than Canada, global observers say — and the world is watching". The Toronto Star.
  3. Paul James; Renee Bernard (11 October 2020). "'Two Michaels' given consular access, Canada's former ambassador to China still skeptical". City News AM 1130.
  4. "Two Michaels". Global News.
  5. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor: China charges Canadians with spying, BBC, 19 June 2020
  6. "Michael Kovrig". Crisis Group. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  7. "Michael Spavor: The detained Canadian close to Kim Jong-un". BBC News. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  8. "China unveils top 500 private firms, Huawei peaks list". XinhuaNet.com English. Xinhua. 2018-08-29. Archived from the original on 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  9. "Extradition in Canada" (Press release). Department of Justice Canada. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  10. Fife, Robert (5 December 2018). "Canada arrests Huawei's global chief financial officer in Vancouver". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  11. Lynch, Sarah (2019-01-28). "U.S. unseals indictments against China's Huawei and CFO Meng Wanzhou". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-01-29. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  12. Martell, Allison; Mehler Paperny, Anna (2020-01-10). "Canadian prosecutors say case against Huawei CFO is about fraud, not sanctions". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2020-01-10. Retrieved 2020-01-11.
  13. 18 U.S.C. § 1832. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
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