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BEIJING: The trial of Michael Kovrig, who has been detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges, is taking place in Beijing in a closed courtroom, days after the United States raised concerns about his case. in tense bilateral talks with China in Alaska.
China arrested Kovrig, a former diplomat, and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor in December 2018, shortly after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei Technologies, with a US warrant.
Beijing insists the arrests are unrelated to the arrest of Meng, who remains under house arrest in Vancouver as he fights extradition to the United States.
“We have repeatedly requested access to the Michael Kovrig hearing, but that access is being denied” for national security reasons, Jim Nickel, charge d’affaires at the Canadian embassy in China, told reporters outside the Beijing court. after the trial began. “Now we see that the judicial process itself is not transparent. We are very concerned about this.”
In a show of solidarity, 28 diplomats from 26 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, appeared in front of Beijing’s No. 2 Intermediate Court on Monday, which was marked by a heavy police presence. . .
“President (Joe) Biden and (Secretary of State Antony) Blinken have said that in handling the cases of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the United States will treat these two individuals as if they were US citizens,” said William Klein, defendant. d ‘affairs of the US embassy in China, he told reporters while standing next to Nickel.
On Friday, Spavor, a businessman, was also tried in a closed courtroom in the northeastern city of Dandong. That court said it would set a later date for a verdict.
READ: Canadian tried in China on espionage charges, no verdict announced
Canadian and other diplomats were unable to attend Spavor’s trial for what China said were national security concerns, a lack of transparency that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “completely unacceptable.”
Observers have said that the likely convictions of the two men could ultimately facilitate a diplomatic agreement whereby they are released and sent back to Canada.
Chinese courts have a conviction rate of more than 99 percent.
READ: Trudeau rebukes China for the closed-door prosecution of Canadians
“Michael and Michael Spavor are innocent Canadians caught in a larger geopolitical dispute,” Kovrig’s wife, Vina Nadjibulla, told Reuters.
“His detention is deeply unjust and our focus must remain on securing his freedom,” he said.
Spavor’s trial took place as the United States and China held high-level talks in Alaska that proved bitter. The United States raised the issue during the talks, a senior Biden administration official said, including its concern that diplomats would be excluded from the courtroom in Spavor’s trial.
