The United States has again called publicly for the immediate release of two Canadians detained in China.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a message recently after Michael Kovrig‘s trial in China came to an end without a judgement. Also, Michael Spavor‘s trial, which took place fews days before Kovrig’s trial had the same outcome as they were both promised a decision from the judicial system of China at a later date.
While calling for their immediate release, Blinken tweeted: “We join our partners in calling on Beijing to immediately release the two arbitrarily detained Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.
“Human beings are not bargaining chips.”
China justified the opaque nature of the proceedings by insisting that the “state secrets” that had to be discussed in both cases made it impossible to open the courtroom doors.
Spavor and Kovrig were accused of espionage, a crime punishable in China by life in prison with a minimum sentence of 10 years. The courts in China bragged about 99.7 per cent conviction rate, which implies that once a trial has commenced, conviction is certain.
This is not the first time the present administration of United States has publicly talked against the detention of the two Canadians. After a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month, U.S. President Joe Biden said both countries are working together to try to get the release of the two detained Canadians.
