Canadian businessman Michael Spavor called his country’s embassy in Beijing from an airport in northeastern China. He was being questioned by the authorities after being prevented from boarding a flight from China.
The concern at the embassy about the call changed to alarm when authorities learned that another Canadian had been arrested in Beijing that day, on December 10, 2018, according to people familiar with the matter. This time, it was former diplomat Michael Kovrig.
Since then, the two men have been placed at the center of a high-risk standoff between Canada, the United States and China, where they have been arrested and charged with spying. Hope recently emerged among relatives and supporters that the men could be released if separate negotiations to resolve criminal charges against Meng Wanzhou, an executive at China’s Huawei Technologies Co., were to bear fruit. Canada has accused China of detaining the two men in retaliation for Meng’s arrest in a US extradition request.
With both sides trying too hard on the demands to overcome, these discussions have stalled and are now dormant, according to people familiar with the matter. The Biden government may review the negotiations in the coming months, people said, but the timing of such a move is unclear. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by phone earlier this month that the United States would do everything it could to free the two men.