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| - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he is "disappointed" that China has formally charged two Canadians with spying, more than 18 months after they were arrested amid a row between Beijing and Ottawa. Former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were detained in December 2018, nine days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on a US warrant, in what was seen as tit-for-tat retaliation. "We're of course disappointed with the decision taken by the Chinese in the case of the two Michaels," Trudeau said, while renewing calls for their release. His deputy, Chrystia Freeland, said she was "heartbroken and really angry" over the charges, adding that it was "essential" for China to immediately restore consular access for the pair. The Supreme People's Procuratorate said Friday it has begun the prosecution of Kovrig and Spavor, who were "suspected of foreign espionage" and "providing state secrets." The move follows a key decision in the Meng case in which a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead. The United States wants Meng extradited to face trial on fraud charges related to the Chinese telecom equipment maker's alleged violations of US sanctions against Iran. Diplomatic relations between Canada and China have hit rock bottom over the arrests, damaging trade between the countries. China's embassy in Ottawa accused the United States of trying "to bring down Huawei." China has also blocked billions of dollars' worth of Canadian agricultural exports. Trudeau said Friday that Chinese authorities have "directly linked the case of the two Michaels to the judicial proceedings against Miss Meng." He called this "extremely disappointing because, for us, there obviously are no links, except in politics." He vowed with allies to "put pressure on the Chinese government to cease the arbitrary detention of these two Canadian citizens who are being held for no other reason than (that) the Chinese government is disappointed with the independent proceedings of the Canadian judiciary." While Meng, the eldest daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, has been out on bail and living in a mansion in Vancouver, the two Canadians remain in China's opaque penal system. Monthly consular visits for Kovrig and Spavor had been suspended since the coronavirus outbreak started in China, Trudeau said in April, amid concerns over their well-being. Beijing confirmed Friday that these were still suspended and would not resume until the virus situation had improved. China's foreign ministry has previously insisted the pair are in good health and that their detention facility is "in a region that is not particularly affected by COVID-19." However, people familiar with the matter have told AFP the two have endured hours of interrogation and during the first six months of detention were forced to sleep with the lights on. Chinese human rights lawyer Li Fangping told AFP the pair could expect their trials to be held in secret, with an official lawyer appointed. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that the circumstances surrounding the case were "particularly serious ... the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence sufficient." Trudeau has insisted on leaving it to the courts to decide Meng's fate. He lamented in May that China "doesn't seem to understand" the meaning of an independent judiciary. His foreign minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said after the May ruling over Meng that Canada would "continue to pursue principled engagement with China to address our bilateral differences". In addition to pressuring Beijing on the case of the detained Canadians, Champagne said Ottawa also would seek clemency for a third Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, who faces execution on drug charges. Meng's case now proceeds to a second phase, in which the defense will challenge the lawfulness of her arrest at an as yet unscheduled hearing. That will be followed by more hearings, likely in September. Any appeals could further drag the case out for years. In contrast, Kovrig and Spavor's trial would likely happen fairly quickly, experts said. Li said "under normal circumstances a verdict would take six months." Ryan Mitchell, law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the long period of detention was "probably intended to help coerce a 'voluntary' confession out of one or both of the two Canadians." "These trials are thus likely to be quite rapidly dealt with, and the verdict and sentence already determined by the (Communist) Party officials overseeing management of the cases," he said. lxc-rox-amc/jm
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