Foreign Affairs Minister ‘has personally been in touch’ with many of the representatives of 25 nations who stood by at the trial
Adrian Humphreys
Canadian detainee in China, Michael Spavor.Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images/File
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If China taking on Canada in a diplomatic war seemed like picking on a child, Canada is relying on friends to bolster its retort after Calgarys Michael Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison in what critics call a preordained trial dictated by Chinas Communist government.
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In a show of support for Canadas contention that Spavors conviction for espionage was the result of unfair judicial process and political interference, diplomats from 25 countries stood beside Canadian officials outside of Canadas embassy in Beijing, declaring that the world is watching.
Spavor, 45, has already been detained for almost 1,000 days and on Wednesday, a court in northeastern China told him he will likely remain so for much longer, although exactly how much longer is unknown.
Despite his 11-year sentence and a fine, the court also said he would be deported but did not specify if that might happen prior to the completion of his sentence or only at the end. Canada is seeking clarity on the issue.
- John Ivison: New evidence in the Meng case an opportunity for Lametti to end it
- Michael Spavor sentenced by Chinese court to 11 years in prison for espionage
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the courts decision, and the actions of the Chinese government.
Chinas conviction and sentencing of Michael Spavor is absolutely unacceptable and unjust, Trudeau said Wednesday.
The verdict for Mr. Spavor comes after more than two and a half years of arbitrary detention, a lack of transparency in the legal process, and a trial that did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by international law.
For Mr. Spavor, as well as for Michael Kovrig, who has also been arbitrarily detained, our top priority remains securing their immediate release. We will continue working around the clock to bring them home as soon as possible.
Dominic Barton, Canadas ambassador to China, who spoke with Spavor after the trial, said Spavor wanted him to share his gratitude for his supporters and for people to know: I am in good spirits, and I want to get home.
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I am in good spirits. I want to get home
Spavors family said the verdict was an unfortunate but necessary step in returning him home to Canada.
Michaels life passion has been to bring different cultures together through tourism and events shared between the Korean peninsula and other countries, including China and Canada. This situation has not dampened, but strengthened his passion, a statement from the family said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau said Canada will appeal his sentence; Canadas response leans heavily on reaching out to global friends.
Canada is moved by the demonstration of solidarity from our international partners. Many couldnt attend the verdict, but representatives from over 25 countries stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their Canadian colleagues at our embassy in Beijing yesterday. Ive also personally been in touch with close allies over the past few days on this matter.
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Condemnation hit China from countries big and small.
Estonia stands alongside with Canada as it continues to deplore arbitrary detention of Michael Spavor, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Estonia. We pay attention to the cases of three Canadians in China and strongly condemn the use of arbitrary arrest, detention and sentencing for political leverage, said the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
Representatives from over 25 countries stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their Canadian colleagues at our embassy
Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau
Speaking more loudly and carrying a bigger stick, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly called on China to immediately and unconditionally release Spavor and Kovrig.
We continue to condemn these arbitrary detentions as well as the sentence imposed against Mr. Spavor on August 10. Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig have not received the minimal procedural protections during their more than two-and-a-half-year arbitrary detention, Blinken said in a written statement.
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The United States also remains deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these legal proceedings and joins Canada in calling for full consular access to Mr. Spavor and Mr. Kovrig.
Blinken said he raised the cases, along with other cases involving Canadian and American citizens facing arbitrary detentions and exit bans in China, adding they are being used by China to push a national agenda.
The practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals to exercise leverage over foreign governments is completely unacceptable. People should never be used as bargaining chips, Blinken said.
People should never be used as bargaining chips
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
The European Unions Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Service complained of the opaque process of Spavors case.
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The trial was held behind closed doors. He was not permitted to appoint lawyers of his choice, and consular access while in custody was heavily restricted, an EU spokeswoman said. The European Union has repeatedly urged China to abide by its international legal obligations to guarantee procedural fairness and due process of law for Mr. Spavor.
Critics have called the Canadians detentions hostage diplomacy.
Michael Kovrig, top, Michael Spavor and Huawei CFO Meng WanzhouPhoto by Files; Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
The arrest and prosecution of Spavor, along with the almost concurrent arrest of Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, are widely seen as a response from the Chinese government after a high-profile and exceedingly wealthy Chinese national was arrested in Canada.
Shortly before the December 2018 arrests of the Canadians, Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was detained in Canada at the request of the United States.
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Meng, 49, is wanted in the U.S. on allegations she misled banks about Huaweis relationship with another company, putting the bank at risk of violating American economic and trade sanctions against Iran. The charges are denied by both Meng and Huawei, the Chinese technology firm founded by her father, Ren Zhengfei.
Spavors closed-door trial in March lasted all of two hours. Canadian diplomats and other foreign officials were forced to wait outside.
Jim Nickel, charge daffaires of the Canadian Embassy in China, centre, and other foreign diplomats wait outside the Intermediate Peoples Court where Michael Spavor stood trial, in Dandong, China, on March 19, 2021.Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/REUTERS
After Mengs arrest at Vancouver International Airport, she remains in Vancouver, fighting against extradition to the United States in a well-funded and lengthy public proceeding, while under house arrest at one of her multimillion-dollar homes.
A decision in Mengs case is expected in the autumn.
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It is not a coincidence that these are happening right now, while the case is going on in Vancouver, Barton said earlier.
China has rejected accusations the cases of the Canadians in China are linked to Mengs case in Canada.
The harsh verdict for Spavor was fully expected by most observers.
Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said the outcome of the case was preordained.
The result of ‘his trial was preordained’
Chinese leaders want to put more pressure on the Canadian government to return Meng Wanzhou to China, Saint-Jacques said. Spavors fate was a political decision, not a legal one, as the ruling Chinese Communist Party is above the law.
It confirms also that his trial was preordained as evidence was not shared with the defence and lasted only a few hours. He called the known evidence flimsy at best.
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Spavor was based near the China-North Korea border. Although detained in December 2019, it wasnt until June 2020 that he was charged with espionage and faced a secret trial in March in the city of Dandong, across a river from North Korea.
Signals of which way the wind was blowing were not good for Spavor.
On Tuesday, a Chinese court upheld the death sentence for Robert Schellenberg.
Schellenberg had been arrested for drug smuggling in 2014 and sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2018, but his appeal reached court shortly after Mengs arrest and his sentence was upgraded to execution, raising the stakes of the apparent international tit-for-tat.
Robert Schellenberg at his retrial on drug trafficking charges in the court in Dalian in Chinas northeast Liaoning province.Photo by HANDOUT / Intermediate Peoples’ Court of Dalian
The espionage charges against Spavor or Kovrig do not carry the death sentence as a potential penalty.
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Kovrig, who worked as a researcher for the International Crisis Group, also had a secret trial in March. It is not known when Kovrig will be sentenced but Saint-Jacques believes it will be soon and will be similar to Spavors.
Saint-Jacques, who was Canadas Ambassador to China from 2012 to 2016 and is a fellow at the China Institute at the University of Alberta, said Canada pushing for a loud international response is the right move, especially with limited other options.
The public solidarity from other diplomatic missions is significant, he said.
Ottawa has to continue to work with capitals to have official statements from these countries plus ask them to démarche the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.
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He said Canada and other nations need to re-evaluate the pending 2022 Winter Olympics being hosted in Beijing.
One possibility would be to delay the games and move them to another country Canada could offer to host them with the U.S.A., using existing facilities in Vancouver, Whistler and Seattle, he said.
The Chinese courts note that Spavor should also be deported could open a crack for negotiation, he said.
Chinas embassy in Ottawa issued a statement saying comments from Trudeau and Garneau about Spavors case are extremely unreasonable, extremely absurd, and extremely arrogant.
A spokesman called Canadas position groundless accusations against China, a gross interference in Chinas judicial sovereignty and a serious violation of the fundamentals of international relations.
Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
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