#Pompeo calls on China to release two Canadians charged with espionage
“#Pompeo calls on China to release two Canadians charged with espionage”
June 23, 2020 | 9:07am
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Yuri Gripas/Pool via AP
“These charges are politically motivated and completely groundless,” Pompeo said in a statement on Monday. “The United States stands with Canada in calling on Beijing for the immediate release of the two men and rejects the use of these unjustified detentions to coerce Canada.”
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China since 2018. Pompeo, in the statement, echoed Canada’s “call for immediate consular access to its two citizens, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, as China has prohibited such access for almost six months, and the world has no knowledge of the two Canadians’ condition.”
The two men were taken into custody just weeks after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech-giant Huawei, was arrested at a Vancouver airport on charges filed in the US.
Meng is also the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei.
American authorities want Meng to stand trial for bank fraud and violating US sanctions against Iran, among other charges.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a “direct link” between Beijing’s arrest of Kovrig and Spavor and Canada’s arrest of Meng.
“It has been obvious from the beginning that this was a political decision made by the Chinese government and we deplore it and have from the very beginning,” Trudeau said, according to Politico.
He also thanked Canada’s “friends and allies around the world” who have spoken out about the “arbitrary detention” of the Canadians.
Asked if he would consider trading Meng for the release of Kovrig and Spavor, Trudeau said, “no.”
“Canada has a strong and independent justice system,” Trudeau said. “Anyone who’s considering … weakening the independence of our justice system doesn’t understand the importance of standing strong on our principles and our values.”
US intelligence agencies warned that Huawei receives funding from China’s security apparatus.
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