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China sentences Canadian businessman to 11 years in prison for spying
Spavor was detained, along with Canada's former diplomat Michael Kovrig, shortly after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top official of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, in Vancouver in December 2018.
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Canadian businessman Michael Spavor (left) walks with former US basketball player Dennis Rodman (center) after arriving from North Korea at Beijing International Airport on January 13, 2014. Rodman returned to China from Pyongyang after a seven-day trip where he sang (AFP/AFP)
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Chinese court on Wednesday sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage, after Sino-Canadian relations have been strained in recent years over this and other legal cases.
Spavor was detained, along with Canada's former diplomat Michael Kovrig, shortly after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top official of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, in Vancouver in December 2018.
The detention of the two Canadians was widely regarded as China's retaliation for Meng's arrest. She was detained by Ottawa as requested by Washington on US fraud charges linked to an alleged breach of sanctions on Iran.
On Tuesday, a Chinese court also rejected Canadian Robert Schellenberg's appeal against his death sentence for drug smuggling, prompting Foreign Minister Marc Garneau to criticize the sentence's "arbitrary nature."
Canada's ambassador to China said he was disappointed after a Chinese court sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage, in a case seen in Ottawa and Washington as part of a wider diplomatic spat with Beijing.
Read also: Chinese court upholds Canadian’s death sentence as Huawei executive fights extradition
Spavor and another Canadian, Michael Kovrig, are being detained arbitrarily and Canada will continue to call for their release, said Dominic Barton, speaking to reporters via video call from the northeastern city of Dandong, where Spavor was sentenced.
Barton said quoted by Reuters he interprets the sentence to mean that Spavor will be deported after serving 11 years.
Proceedings against Canadian citizens were not a coincidence, said Barton.
