China Releases Two Canadians Accused of Espionage Following Meng Wanzhou's Release

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] On the 24th (local time), as Huawei's Vice Chairwoman Meng Wanzhou was released in Canada, China also freed two Canadians who had been detained on espionage charges.

This has led to evaluations that, with the understanding of the United States, China and Canada resolved the sensitive issue of civilian detentions through a mutual exchange.

According to foreign media on the day, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a press conference and announced that two Canadians who had been imprisoned in China on espionage charges were released and had left China, and were scheduled to return to Canada the next morning. This press conference took place about an hour after Vice Chairwoman Meng Wanzhou was released and left for China.

North Korea-related businessman Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were arrested by Chinese authorities in December 2018, nine days after Meng was detained in the United States.

At the time, it was speculated that China retaliated after Canada arrested Meng on the United States' request for violating Iran sanctions, but China had denied any connection between the two cases.

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