Two Canadians imprisoned in China since 2018 released after US agreed to release Huawei executive
As part of the agreement, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, was released and returned to China,
Photo: DON MACKINNON / AFP / Getty Images
Two Canadians imprisoned s in China since 2018 were released and on their way back to their country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin announced Friday night. Trudeau.
The release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, was made public within a few hours after the US Department of Justice struck a deal that cleared the way for Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou to return to China in exchange for admit wrongdoing. in a fraud case.
Canadian authorities arrested Meng, of 49 years, in December 2018 at Vancouver International Airport, at the request of the United States, putting Canada in the middle of a diplomatic showdown between the two superpowers.
Trudeau said the two men left the airspace Chinese around 20: 30 hours (Eastern time) accompanied by Dominic Barton, Canadian Ambassador to China .
Earlier tonight, the aircraft carrying Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor left Chinese airspace. After an unbelievably difficult ordeal, they are on their way home. I want to thank every single person and partner around the world who helped secure their release.
Approximately at At the same time, a private jet carrying Meng left Canadian airspace bound for China, according to Canadian news reports.
Chinese state media They said later that Meng was on his way home after Beijing’s “tireless efforts.”
Trudeau said details about the release of Canadians, and the negotiations and events that led up to it, would have to wait until they were back in Canada on Saturday.
“These two men have been through an incredibly difficult experience, ”Trudeau said. “Over the last thousand days they have shown strength, perseverance, endurance and grace, and that inspires us all.”
Trudeau declined to comment on how the case and the publication have affected Canada’s relationship with China and said that “there will be time for reflection and analysis in the coming days and weeks.
The fate of Kovrig and Spavor was linked to Meng’s case since their arrest . Both were arrested nine days after the Canadian police arrested the Huawei director.
The Chinese government has denied the accusations of “hostage diplomacy”, but the arrest, arrest and trial of the two Canadians offered Beijing a means of reminding Ottawa and Washington that their fate was also at stake.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that United Unidos welcomed the release of the men “after more than two and a half years of arbitrary detention.” For more than a thousand days, the two Canadians were held in China in separate prisons, accused of espionage, without evidence, and forced to go months without diplomatic visits.
