China Urges Canada Not to Infringe on Judicial Sovereignty Over Heavy Sentencing of Its Citizen

Michael Spavor Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] China rebutted Canada's protest against the 11-year prison sentence given to a Canadian citizen on espionage charges in China, calling it an infringement on judicial sovereignty.

Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on the 12th, "Canada has seriously infringed upon China's judicial sovereignty and violated the rule of law," adding, "China strongly condemns this."

Spokesperson Hua stated, "Canada is trampling on the spirit of the rule of law and politicizing legal issues." She also said that Canada's attempt to pressure China by involving multiple countries will not succeed, urging, "Respect China's judicial sovereignty and stop irresponsible remarks."

Earlier, the Intermediate People's Court of Dandong City, Liaoning Province, sentenced Canadian Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison on charges of illegally providing state secrets to a foreign country.

This verdict came amid extremely deteriorated relations between China and Canada following the December 2018 arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and daughter of Huawei's founder, on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized, saying, "This is absolutely unacceptable and unfair," and added, "The verdict came after two and a half years of arbitrary detention. There was no transparency in the legal process and it did not meet even the minimum standards under international law."

On the same day, the Chinese Embassy in Canada issued a statement expressing "strong regret" over Canada's protest and countered that "Canada is ignoring the political motives behind CFO Meng's arrest."

This verdict, issued as the Canadian court is scheduled to hold a final hearing within weeks on whether to extradite CFO Meng to the United States, is seen as pressure from China to release her.

On the 11th, Dominic Barton, Canadian Ambassador to China, said, "I do not believe it is a coincidence to hear such a verdict while CFO Meng's trial is ongoing."

Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Huawei [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also stated, "People should not be used as bargaining chips."

Spavor, who once arranged former U.S. basketball player Dennis Rodman's visit to North Korea and met with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, has been involved in North Korean tourism business.

He was detained by Chinese authorities along with former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig nine days after Canada arrested Huawei CFO Meng in December 2018.

Meanwhile, on the 10th, China upheld the death sentence in the appeal trial of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, who was charged with smuggling 222 kg of methamphetamine. Schellenberg appealed after receiving a 15-year prison sentence in the first trial in November 2018, but the court decided to retry the case after the Meng CFO incident and handed down the death sentence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.