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Michael Spavor 2014 in Beijing
Photo: Reuters Photographer / REUTERS
Canadian businessman Michael Spavor has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in China against the backdrop of diplomatic tensions.
A court in the northeast Chinese city of Dandong found him guilty of espionage and obtaining state secrets on Wednesday.
Spavor, like his compatriot Michael Kovrig, was taken into custody in China in December 2018, shortly after Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Canada.
Beijing is therefore accused of "hostage diplomacy".
The daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei is accused of bank fraud in the United States in connection with violations of sanctions against Iran.
In Canada, a process is in the final stages to decide whether to extradite the businesswoman to the United States.
The former diplomat Kovrig is also facing court in China for allegations of espionage.
However, no verdict has yet been passed against him.
Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have been strained since Meng Wanzhou's arrest.
As a result, at least three Canadian drug smugglers were sentenced to death in China.
It was only on Tuesday that an appeals court upheld the death sentence against Canadian drug smuggler Robert Lloyd Schellenberg.
Initially, Schellenberg had received a long prison sentence.
However, shortly after Meng Wanzhou was arrested, the sentence was changed to the death penalty.
China has denied any links between the trials against the Canadians and the arrest of Meng Wanzhou.
aar / dpa
