torsdag 25. juni 2020

Trudeau attacks China's 'political' detention of two Canadians, as prison letters sent from Beijing are published

The decision by China to charge two Canadians with espionage was clearly political, the country's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said Tuesday, after a top Chinese diplomat warned him to "stop making irresponsible remarks" about the case.

Trudeau was speaking days after Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were officially charged with spying and handling state secrets. The two men were first detained in late 2018 in the weeks following the arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese technology company Huawei, on charges filed in the United States.

"It has been obvious from the beginning that this was a political decision made by the Chinese government and we deplore it," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa, adding that "we're not considering" any trade of the two men with detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.