Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday, on the 500th day of detention of two Canadians in China, that consular visits had been suspended due to confinement in prisons linked to the coronavirus.
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"We are working extremely diligently on Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who have been detained for 500 days in China," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his daily press conference. Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat previously stationed in the Chinese capital, as well as the consultant and businessman Michael Spavor, a specialist in North Korea, were arrested on December 10, 2018 by the Chinese authorities. They have since been incarcerated.
"500 days too many"
"500 days too many," lamented Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs François-Philippe Champagne, during a videoconference organized by the Council for International Relations of Montreal (CORIM).
Trudeau said that Champagne had "very recently" challenged his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi about the issue of their continued detention, saying that the minister had "expressed our constant concerns and desire to see them released." The Canadian Prime Minister also said that China had suspended monthly consular visits to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the prison population.
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MM. Kovrig and Spavor "are in an establishment (...) in a region which is not particularly affected by Covid-19", he underlined. "We will continue to insist (with Beijing) to have both more details and better access," added Mr. Trudeau.
Suspected of spying
Michael Kovrig, suspected of collecting state secrets and intelligence from abroad, was allowed to speak on the phone with his sick father last month. Michael Spavor is suspected of having stolen and illegally transmitted state secrets to foreign countries.
The proceedings against the two Canadians are widely perceived in the West as a reprisal for the arrest in Canada a few days earlier of a leader of the telecommunications giant Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the United States. Meng Wanzhou is accused of bank fraud by the United States, which is demanding his extradition.