Chinese court sentences Canadian to 11 years on spying charges seen as 'hostage politics'

(Image credit: Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images)

published 11 August 2021

A court in Dandong, China, sentenced Canadian citizen Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison Wednesday on spying charges filed shortly after Canada detained well-connected Chinese business executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018. Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and daughter of its founder, awaits extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges tied to violating Iran sanctions.

Shortly after Meng's detention, China arrested Spavor and Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig on spying charges and abruptly increased the 15-year drug smuggling sentence for a third Canadian, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, to a death sentence. Critics labeled the arrests "hostage politics," The Associated Press reports, and Wednesday's verdict "is the latest indication of how Beijing is stepping up pressure on Canada ahead of a court ruling on whether to hand over" Meng to the U.S. courts. Kovrig has not been tried yet, and another Chinese court upheld Schellenberg's death sentence on Tuesday.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox