China wraps up trial of Canadian 'spy'

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – A court in China has concluded the hearing of an espionage case against Canadian national Michael Spavor, local media reported on Friday.

The court said it will announce a verdict later, according to the CGTN news channel.

The hearing was held at a court in Dandong city in the northeast Liaoning province and Spavor attended in person.

Spavor, a businessman, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig have been detained in China since their arrest over two years ago.

The duo is facing charges of espionage and illegal provision of state secrets.

Their arrests were widely seen as retaliation for Canada’s detention of senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in December 2018 at the request of the US, who accused her of violating sanctions on Iran.

She remains under house arrest in Canada amid an ongoing fight against extradition to the US.

China has refused to accept that its arrest of the two Canadian nationals was linked to Meng’s case.

Beijing says her detention is a “political case” and has urged Ottawa to drop the case and release her.