Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/17/two-canadians-held-china-court-hearings-this-month
Analysis: Two Canadians are currently imprisoned in China for more than two years on spying allegations. Both men will have court hearings later this week, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs said on Wednesday.
“Our embassy in Beijing has been notified that court hearings for Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are scheduled to take place on March 19 and March 22, respectively,” Marc Garneau said in a statement.
Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Spavor, a businessman, were detained in December 2018. Their detainment occurred after Canadian authorities arrested top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on an extradition request by the United States. Chinese authorities have stated that both men are being held on suspicion of endangering national security and have rejected any accusations their detention is retaliation for the case against Meng, who is facing fraud charges in the US.
Relations between both Ottawa and Beijing have deteriorated since the arrests, causing Canadian officials to criticise China for its human rights records and spearhead a global push to end arbitrary detention around the world.
Garneau said, “the arbitrary detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor is a top priority for the Government of Canada and we continue to work tirelessly to secure their immediate release.” Garneau continued to say, “we believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings.”
The current conflict between Canada and China is over arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the arrest and detention of an individual, or individuals, in which there is no likelihood or evidence that they committed a crime against legal statute, or in which there has been no proper due process of law or order. China has stated that both men were arrested due to spying allegations. However, in light of Meng’s arrest and accusations that she used a Hong Kong shell company to deceive banks and conduct business with Iran, in violation of US sanctions, Kovrig and Spavor’s arrests seem more nefarious. If Kovrig and Spavor’s hearing and or sentencing goes in a bad direction, then Chinese and Canadian relations may turn hostile. Both parties already feel as though their citizens are being wrongly held and that the other state is the aggressor.
After transitioning out of phase 4 of geopolitical restructuring (1991-2001) wherein the United States had been defined as a global hegemon, before American dominance was threatened by costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following 9/11 and the emergence of China as a global rival, the US and the rest of the world started to transition into a new phase. This new phase is marked by China’s continued rise, to what some consider to be a bipolar system. Canada’s current conflict with China may have been ignited by Meng’s arrest at the request of the US, who has her facing fraud charges. If we are now in a bipolar system, then Canada may play into either the US’s or China’s hand, and serve as a participant by proxy.