The New Zealand Government has expressed deep concerns about a decision by a Chinese court to sentence Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison in a spying case linked to Beijing’s pressure campaign against the Canadian Government.
The pressure comes as a Canadian court is set to hear final arguments in the next few weeks over whether to hand over an executive at tech giant Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, to the United States where she faces criminal charges in connection with possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran.
Michael Spavor was charged with spying after his government arrested an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei. (File photo)
Spavor and another Canadian were detained in China in what critics labelled hostage politics after the Huawei executives arrest in 2018. On Tuesday, another Chinese court rejected the appeal of a third Canadian whose prison term in a drug case was abruptly increased to a sentence of death following Mengs arrest.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a tweet that it shared Canadas concerns about the verdict, and would continue to follow this case and others closely.
READ MORE:* China charges two Canadians with spying in Huawei-linked case* China accuses detained Canadians of stealing state secrets* Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada over her arrest* Huawei founder denies sharing secrets with China
We call for international law and norms to be respected, including the human rights and Vienna Conventions, it said, at the same time retweeting a statement from the Canadian Government.
Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marc Garneau, said in the statement that the country condemned the conviction and sentencing in the strongest terms and that the process lacked fairness and transparency, including a trial that did not satisfy minimum standards of international law.
New Zealands ambassador to China, Clare Fearnley, had earlier awaited the verdict at the Canadian embassy in Beijing with diplomats of a number of allied countries including Australia and the US, according to a tweet from The Wall Street Journals China bureau chief.
Canadian ambassador Dominic Barton attended Spavor’s hearing in the city of Dandong, about 340 kilometres east of Beijing on the North Korean border. No word has been given about a trial date for former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who was also detained in December 2018 and charged with spying.
Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd and daughter of the company’s founder, was arrested on December 1, 2018, in Vancouver on US charges of lying to the Hong Kong arm of the British bank HSBC about possible dealings with Iran in violation of trade sanctions.
Meng’s lawyers argue the case is politically motivated and what she is accused of is not a crime in Canada.
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, during a break in her extradition hearing.
Chinas Government has criticised the arrest as part of US efforts to hamper its technology development. Huawei, a maker of network equipment and smartphones, is Chinas first global tech brand and is at the centre of US-Chinese tension over technology and the security of information systems.
Beijing has repeatedly demanded Meng’s immediate release. While denying a direct connection between her case and the arrests of Spavor and Kovrig, Chinese officials and state media frequently mention the two men’s fates in relation to whether or not Meng is allowed to return to China.
At the Canadian embassy in Beijing, deputy head of mission Jim Nickel told reporters the timing of the detentions of Spavor and Kovrig and consistent communications from the Chinese Government linking them to Ms Meng makes clear they were arbitrarily detained for the purpose of political leverage.
Spavor was based in China but had extensive links with North Korea in tourism and other commercial ventures that brought him into contact with the isolated communist state’s leadership.
Nickel said the Canadian Government had complained to China that Spavor’s trial failed to meet basic standards of fairness and defendants rights.
In this December 19, 2013, file photo, Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur, is seen with former NBA star Dennis Rodman, left, on arrival at the capital airport for a flight to North Korea, in Beijing, China.
The news conference at the Canadian embassy was attended by representatives from 25 countries, including the ambassadors from Britain, Australia and New Zealand and diplomats from the US, Japan, Germany, France, the European Union, Italy and Sweden.
On Tuesday, a court in Liaoning province in the northeast rejected an appeal by Robert Schellenberg, whose 15-year prison term on charges of smuggling methamphetamine was increased to death in January 2019 following Mengs arrest. The death sentence has been automatically appealed to China’s Supreme Court.
Barton said earlier: I dont think it is a coincidence these are happening right now while events are going on in Vancouver, referring to the hearings on whether to extradite Meng to the US.
Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei.
The Huawei case is one of a series of conflicts between Beijing and other governments over Chinas technology ambitions, human rights in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet, and territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea.
China has tried to pressure Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government by imposing restrictions on imports of canola seed oil and other products from Canada.
Meanwhile, Beijing is blocking imports of Australian wheat, wine and other products after Australia’s Government called for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
The disease that has killed more than 4.3 million people was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, although China has suggested it may have originated overseas, a theory that has not been embraced by medical experts.
– AP with Stuff