The case has poisoned the diplomatic relations between Beijing and Ottawa. Friday, June 19, the China has formally indicted for espionage two Canadians detained since December 2018 in the name of national security. Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat previously stationed in Beijing, as well as the consultant and businessman Michael Spavor, a specialist on North Korea, are accused of" espionage " and " divulging State secrets ", said the prosecutor in two brief releases.
The two men had been arrested in December 2018 a few days after the arrest in Canada, at the request of the american legal system, the financial director of the chinese giant telecom Huawei Meng Wanzhou. This last, daughter of the founder of Huawei, is accused by the United States to have bypassed u.s. sanctions against Iran. His arrest by the end of 2018 has opened a diplomatic crisis without precedent between Ottawa and Beijing.
Read also The case of Huawei in the heart of the technological warfare between Beijing and Washington
The procedure for the two Canadians is widely perceived in the West as a retaliation. China denies firmly, claiming to be a "rule of law" – even if the justice remains under the influence of the chinese communist Party (CCP). But the country processes most of the time with a high-opacity cases involving national security. Beijing has several times hinted that the release of Meng Wanzhou was a condition sine qua non for an improvement of its relations with Ottawa.
