Huawei manager Meng released – China releases two Canadians from custody
Meng’s arrest sparked a serious diplomatic crisis between China and Canada
Source: AP/Darryl Dyke
Since 2018, Chinese company Huawei’s financial director Meng Wanzhou was stuck in Canada at the behest of the US. A Canadian judge has now closed the extradition proceedings. After this, China released two Canadian citizens from custody.
nFollowing the release of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei in Canada, China released two Canadians from custody. As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig are already on their way back to Canada. Trudeau said they had already left Chinese airspace and were “on their way home.”
Spavor and Kovrig were arrested in China in December 2018, days after Meng was arrested in Canada. Both were brought to justice on charges of espionage. Spavor was sentenced in August to 11 years in prison for “espionage and illegal disclosure of state secrets.” According to the Canadian ambassador, Chinese officials accused him of, among other things, taking restricted photographs of military aircraft. The verdict against Kovrig was yet to come.
The arrests of the two Canadians were seen as retaliation for Meng’s detention in Canada – and as leverage against the Ottawa government. Canada and other Western states accused Beijing of “hostage diplomacy” and the case sparked a serious diplomatic crisis between China and Canada.
Meng was released on Friday after nearly three years of detention in Canada. The 49-year-old daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has reached a settlement with the US judiciary. A Canadian court halted extradition proceedings against him and lifted his bail obligation. Meng boarded a plane to China the same day.
