Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for China to release two Canadians who have been indicted on charges of espionage.
The two men, Michael Spavor, a business consultant, and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, were detained in 2018 after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top executive of Huawei, at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges.
Pompeo said Monday that the U.S. is “extremely concerned” about the charges, which he called “politically motivated and completely groundless.”
“The United States stands with Canada in calling on Beijing for the immediate release of the two men and rejects the use of these unjustified detentions to coerce Canada,” Pompeo said in a statement.
Chinese court officials said Friday that Kovrig had been indicted on charges of espionage and “gathering state secrets and intelligence for foreign countries.” Spavor was indicted on similar espionage charges and “illegally providing state secrets for foreign countries.”
Kovrig is being held in Beijing and Spavor in Liaoning province, which borders North Korea.
The charges against Spavor and Kovrig are seen as retaliation for last month’s ruling by a Canadian court saying Meng’s extradition to the U.S. could move forward. Meng has been under house arrest for more than a year after she was accused of trying to evade sanctions against Iran. Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, denies the charges.
Asked Friday if the Canadian men could face lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, declined to comment, saying it was a “hypothetical question.”
The prosecutions are taking place against the backdrop of the U.S. trying to stop Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications company, from setting up 5G mobile networks worldwide. The U.S. says the company poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use the company to spy.
