Canada’s Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were held by China for trumped up charges of spying, have eventually returned home after being released.
Coincidentally, their freedom came on the same day Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou reached a settlement with the Americans that allowed her to return home to China.
It would be recalled that Canadian officials arrested Meng, 49, in Vancouver in December 2018, at the behest of U.S. officials who sought her extradition on bank and wire fraud charges related to allegations that she misled a bank about Huawei’s relationship with a subsidiary in Iran.
Several days later, China detained Kovrig and Spavor in what was widely seen as retaliation — and sent relations between Ottawa and Beijing into a sharp nosedive.
The historic return of the two Michaels who spent over 1,000 days in detention was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
An emotional sounding Trudeau said “About 12 minutes ago the aircraft carrying Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor left Chinese airspace and they are on their way home”
“They boarded at about 7:30 Ottawa time with Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China.”
According to reports, their 1,020 days in captivity came to an abrupt end when American prosecutors agreed to a plea deal with Meng on fraud charges. It was gathered that once that deal was agreed to in a New York court, Canadian prosecutors agreed to drop the extradition proceedings against Meng.
Meng reportedly thanked the judge and Crown prosecutor in her case as she left the courthouse.
She said “I’m also grateful to the Canadian people and media friends for your tolerance”. Meng said “Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
It is important to note that Meng has spent the past two-plus years living in the lap of luxury. Local reports have it that she has split her time between two Vancouver mansions, faced few restrictions and continued to shop the finest stores and host dinners at the cities poshest restaurants.
However, she described it as a hardship on her way out the door.
Before boarding a flight home, she said “It was a disruptive time for me as a mother, a wife, and a company executive”.
Reports have it that the Trudeau-led government has faced pressure over the past several years to engage in what amounted to hostage diplomacy and free Meng in exchange for the two Michaels but they declined. Analysts said any such move would have put Canadians travelling in China in danger of being kidnapped the next time China wanted something.
In a statement in March after Spavor’s trial, Trudeau said “Their arbitrary detention is completely unacceptable, as is the lack of transparency around the court proceedings”.
It should be noted that Spavor was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in jail and was ordered deported, a factor that was not expected to happen until after the sentence was served.
In the latest announcement of their return, Trudeau said “These two men have gone through an unbelievably difficult ordeal”.
“For the past 1,000 days they have shown strength, perseverance, resilience, and grace. And we are all inspired by that.”
