Beijing The trial of Michael Kovrig, the Canadian who has been detained in China for more than two years on a charge of espionage, began on Monday, with relations between Ottawa and Beijing in free fall. The trial comes days after the closed trial of another Canadian man, with both detained in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest under a U.S. extradition order from Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
Kovrig, a former diplomat, was arrested in 2018 and last June formally charged with espionage at the same time as his compatriot, businessman Michael Spavor.
On Monday, police cordoned off an area outside the courthouse in Beijing because Canadian diplomats were denied entry and turned away. A court official told reporters that access was not allowed because the trial was a national security issue.
Jim Nickel, the Canadian embassy’s indictment in Beijing, told reporters he was “very concerned about the lack of access and the lack of transparency in the legal process.”
Representatives from 26 countries gathered outside the building on Monday, according to Nickel, “lending their vote” for Kovrig’s immediate release.
The U.S. is “deeply concerned about the lack of minimum procedural protection afforded to the two Canadian citizens,” William Klein, acting deputy chief of the U.S. embassy in Beijing, told out-of-court media.
REUTERS
Canadian diplomats were also banned from attending Spavor’s trial in the northern city of Dandong on Friday, which lasted less than three hours and ended without any verdict being announced.
Following the closed trial, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the detention of the two men “completely unacceptable, as was the lack of transparency surrounding these court proceedings.”
China’s foreign ministry on Monday defended that diplomats were blocking access to the court, and criticized those who gathered outside as “very unreasonable”.
“Whether it’s a dozen or so diplomats trying to collect and exert pressure, it’s an interference in China’s judicial sovereignty … and not something a diplomat should do,” Hua said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Chunying said.
US bid to prosecute Huawei execution
The court dates for the two Canadians come as an extradition hearing for Meng in recent months, and beyond fiery high-level talks between the US and China in Alaska.
Meng, whose father is the founder and CEO of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei, fought the extradition to the US on charges that she and the company violated US sanctions against Iran and other laws.
A year ago, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled charges and specifically named Meng who accused Huawei of orchestrating a successful ‘decades-long’ scheme to steal trade secrets from U.S. technology companies.
While Kovrig’s trial was still underway late Monday afternoon, former Canadian Ambassador Guy Saint-Jacques told AFP he expected the proceedings to be short.
“China is not even trying to make it look like a real trial, as evidence is not shared with the defense and the judge does not even take the time to review it,” he said before the trial. “It only confirms that the process was pre-arranged by the Communist Party and that it is a political matter.”
China’s legal system convicts most of the people on trial and the two men will face life in prison if convicted of ‘espionage’ and ‘providing state secrets’.
They have had almost no contact with the outside world since their arrest, and virtual consular visits only resume in October after a nine-month hiatus due to authorities’ coronavirus pandemic.
Beijing has insisted that the detention of the two Canadians is legal, while Meng’s case is a purely political incident. ‘
“The message to the US is: If you want to help the Canadians, you have to make sure that Meng is returned to China quickly,” Saint-Jacques said.