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Melanie Marquis
Press
“Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were charged by prosecutors in China for crimes suspected of threatening China’s national security in June 2020. A source tells me that China’s Justice Department will trigger a first trial of these two cases soon, ”wrote on Thursday on Twitter Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a media affiliated with Beijing.
“We are not aware of a fixed date for the trials. To date, Global Affairs Canada has not been notified of any court hearings for Mr. Kovrig or Mr. Spavor. We continue to follow these cases closely, ”responded Christelle Chartrand, spokesperson for the ministry, adding that Ottawa continues to“ follow these cases closely ”and that consular officials continue to provide services to the two Michael in China. .
The Canadians have been arbitrarily detained since December 2018. They were arrested a few days after the interception at Vancouver airport of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. The businesswoman was arrested at the request of the United States.
Canada has angry the Middle Empire twice in the past few weeks.
The first, by passing an international initiative against arbitrary detention, and the second, with the adoption of a unanimous motion in Parliament recognizing the existence of genocide against the Muslim minority of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
It is not uncommon for Beijing to react directly to annoyances by taking punitive gestures, whether against the two Michael’s – for example, by taking their case one step further – or by going for economic sanctions against them. exports of products from Canada, such as canola or beef.
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