The case prompted accusations in Canada and other Western countries that China was engaging in “hostage diplomacy”.
“Chinese judicial authorities handled the case in strict accordance with the law. The false accusation against China of ‘arbitrary detention’ was a complete distortion of facts and blame-shifting,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.
“Stories made up by the Canadian side have been debunked by facts over time. This is the result of Canada’s own doing.”
Wang also said: “We urge the Canadian side to respect facts, deeply reflect upon its mistakes and stop misleading public opinion, and smearing China.”
Earlier this month, Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Spavor, a founding member and director of an non-governmental organisation that facilitates cultural, tourist and business exchanges with North Korea, had blamed his fellow prisoner for his detention.
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Meng Wanzhou returns to China and Canadians freed after US court reaches deal with Huawei CFO
The report said Spavor, who is one of the few Westerners known to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had passed on information about North Korea to Kovrig.
It then said Kovrig had passed the information on to the Canadian government and other Western intelligence agencies in the course of his duties as a diplomat with the Foreign Affairs department’s Global Security Reporting Programme (GSRP).
An unnamed Canadian official who is alleged to have spoken to Kovrig about his relationship with Spavor after the former took leave of absence from the diplomatic service, told the newspaper that the detentions were “completely arbitrary” and not the result of “one person’s actions over another”.
The report, which cited two anonymous sources, said Spavor was seeking millions of dollars in compensation from the Canadian government.
Following the report, Canada’s Global Affairs Department said the detention of the two men was “unjust and unacceptable”. It has consistently denied that the two were spying and has said it cannot comment on the latest reports for privacy reasons.
One month before their release in 2021, Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Dandong Intermediate People’s Court in Liaoning province on charges of foreign espionage and the illegal provision of state secrets, while Kovrig’s verdict was never announced. Spavor’s verdict did not mention North Korea.
Earlier this month the Chinese embassy in Canada said the two men had endangered China’s national security, adding: “The recent reports of Canadian media have once again proven that these facts cannot be denied.”
Canada’s ambassador to China resigns in wake of two Michaels’ release
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Kerry Buck, a former Canadian diplomat and ambassador to Nato, said the accusations that Kovrig’s reports were a type of espionage were “ridiculous”.
In a post on X, formerly, Twitter, she wrote: “GSRP diplomats write diplomatic reports. As with all diplomatic reports, they are read by people in Ottawa, including [the Canadian security service] … In no world does this make GSRP diplomats ‘spies’.”
