BEIJING (Reuters) – The trial of Michael Kovrig, who has been detained in China for more than two years on charges of espionage, is underway in Beijing, in a closed court, days after the United States raised concerns about his case in tense bilateral negotiations with China in Alaska.
China arrested Kovrig, a former diplomat, and also Canadian Michael Spavor in December 2018, shortly after Canadian police arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei Technologies, under a U.S. warrant.
Beijing insists that the arrests are not related to the detention of Meng, who remains under house arrest in Vancouver while fighting extradition to the United States.
“We have repeatedly requested access to the Michael Kovrig hearing, but that access is being denied” for national security reasons, Jim Nickel, the business officer at the Canadian embassy in China, told reporters outside the Beijing court after the trial began. “Now we see that the judicial process itself is not transparent. We are very concerned about that. “
In a show of solidarity, 28 diplomats from 26 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, appeared in front of Beijing Intermediate Court No. 2 on Monday, which was marked by a strong presence policeman .
“(US) President (Joe) Biden and (Secretary of State Antony) Blinken said that in dealing with the Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor cases, the United States will treat these two individuals as if they were American citizens,” William Klein, in charge of business at the United States embassy in China, told reporters as he stood beside Nickel.
“We are here to show solidarity. Arbitrary detention is not the way, ”another diplomat told Reuters, refusing to be identified because she was not authorized to speak officially about the Canadians’ trial.
More than 50 countries signed a declaration in February to condemn the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political purposes.
Some diplomats took off their masks while posing for a group photo outside the courtroom, with each shouting at the country they represented to help reporters identify them.
On Friday, businessman Spavor was also tried in a closed court in the northeastern city of Dandong. That court said it would set a later date for a verdict.
The Canadian and other diplomats were not allowed to attend Spavor’s trial on what China said were national security reasons, a lack of transparency that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “completely unacceptable”.
Observers said the likely convictions of the two men could ultimately facilitate a diplomatic agreement whereby they would be released and sent back to Canada.
Chinese courts have a conviction rate of more than 99%.
“Michael and Michael Spavor are innocent Canadians involved in a major geopolitical dispute,” Kovrig’s wife, Vina Nadjibulla, told Reuters.
“Their detention is deeply unfair and our focus must remain on guaranteeing their freedom,” she said.
Spavor’s trial took place while the United States and China were holding grudging high-level negotiations in Alaska. The United States raised the issue during the negotiations, said a senior Biden government official, including concerns that diplomats were prevented from appearing in court at Spavor’s trial.
Reporting by Yew Lun Tian and Tony Munroe in Beijing and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; written by Se Young Lee; Editing by Giles Elgood and Gerry Doyle