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AFP
Michael Spavor (L) and Michael Kovrig have been held considering that December2018
Canada is working “very actively” to bring home two of its citizens charged with spying in China, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said.
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were apprehended in China in December 2018 but were only charged on Friday.
Their arrests came just days after Meng Wanzhou – an executive of the Chinese giant Huawei – was apprehended in Vancouver, at the demand of the US.
China rejects that the arrests were in retaliation for Ms Meng’s detention.
Mr Trudeau stated he was “worried and disappointed” by the charges versus Mr Kovrig, a previous diplomat, and Mr Spavor, a business person, calling their detention “arbitrary”.
Canadian officials were using both personal and public methods “to ensure we have a positive outcome”, he included at an interview on Friday.
Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor have actually been charged with “spying on nationwide secrets” and supplying intelligence for “outside entities”.
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Mr Trudeau said he had told the Chinese he had no power to intervene in Ms Meng’s case.
Mr Kovrig and Mr Spavor could face 10 years in jail if found guilty of breaking Post 111 of the Wrongdoer Law of the People’s Republic of China.
The Canadian prime minister also stated he continued to highlight to China that the Canadian