US knocks China’s hostage diplomacy in Canadian Michaels cases

The United States criticized the Chinese government’s closed-court trials against two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are widely viewed as being detained as part of China’s hostage diplomacy in retaliation for Canada assisting the Justice Department with extraditing a top Huawei official.

“We remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding the legal proceedings of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, and join Canada in calling for continued consular access in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted on Tuesday.