Chinese officials said on Friday they had indicted two Canadians on charges of espionage, escalating Beijing’s punitive campaign against Canada over the arrest of a top executive of the Chinese technology giant Huawei. The two men, Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a business consultant, were detained in 2018 as relations between China and Canada soured when Canada arrested the chief financial officer of Huawei at the request of the United States. They are now at the center of a heated international dispute that has pitted China against Canada and the United States, at a time when relations have deteriorated to their lowest point in decades. In brief statements on Friday, Chinese court officials said that Mr. Kovrig had been indicted in Beijing on charges of espionage and “gathering state secrets and intelligence for foreign countries.” Mr. Spavor was indicted in Dandong, a northeastern city, on the similar charges of espionage and “illegally providing state secrets for foreign countries.”If convicted in China’s courts, which are controlled by the governing Communist Party, the men could face harsh punishments.

Source: International New York Times June 19, 2020 04:58 UTC