A Chinese court has sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spaver to 11 years in prison for espionage. The ruling came one day after the appeal of Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling, was dismissed.
The Dandong People’s Court in Liaoning Province, China, sentenced Spaver to 11 years in prison for charges of foreign spying and leaking illegal secrets, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 11th (local time). Canada’s North Korean businessman Spaber and former diplomat Michael Kobrick have been tried in private since March after being detained in China in December 2018. Canadian diplomats in China were reportedly denied access to the trial.
Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton, who had come to Dandong in anticipation of the verdict, heard the news and said, “Securing the release of Spaber and Kobrick and seeking tolerance for Schellenberg are still our top priorities.” “There is still a long way to go. “This matter is not over yet,” he told reporters. This means that the Canadian government will continue to make diplomatic efforts to free its citizens. The Canadian government also issued a statement saying, “The Spaber and Kobrick trials are hostage diplomacy.
Sentencing for Canadians Schellenberg and Spaber followed one day apart. The High People’s Court of Liaoning Province in China rejected Schellenberg’s appeal, which had been sentenced to death for drug smuggling the day before.
In Canada, the rulings against Schellenberg and Spaber are seen as retaliation by Chinese authorities for the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman of Chinese telecom giant Huawei. This is because, after Meng was arrested in Vancouver, Canada in December 2018 at the request of the US extradition for violating sanctions against Iran, the arrests and death sentences of Canadians in China have continued.
Prior to the ruling, diplomats from 25 countries stationed in Beijing were convened. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly criticized Spaber’s trial in private, according to the Associated Press. US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who visited Tianjin last month, called for the release of Americans and Canadians in China, and US President Joe Biden mentioned the issue in a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau.
China criticized the request, saying that “Canada interferes with China’s judicial sovereignty” and that “Meng Wanzhou was unreasonably detained by Canada.” In Vancouver, the final pleading of Vice Chairman Meng’s extradition extradition trial is in progress for three weeks from the 4th.
The Justice Department said it could send Meng back to China if he pleads guilty, but it is not as easy as Huawei has to plead guilty. There is also talk of exchanging Meng with Canadians who have been sentenced to heavy sentences.
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