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China-Canada relations
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Michael Spavor claims he was used by Ottawa for intelligence gathering in China

  • Spavor, jailed in China for 3 years, is seeking millions of dollars in compensation from Ottawa, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported
  • The detention of Spavor and Michael Kovrig was seen as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US

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Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, in Yanji, China in 2017. Photo: AP
Agence France-Presse

A Sino-Canadian row reared its head on Monday after one of two Canadians jailed by China for nearly three years claimed he was unwittingly used for intelligence gathering and is seeking compensation from Ottawa.

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Beijing’s 2018 to 2021 detentions of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig had plunged bilateral relations into a deep freeze.

Michael Kovrig, right, and Michael Spavor at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Canada in March. Pool via AP
Michael Kovrig, right, and Michael Spavor at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Canada in March. Pool via AP

Spavor reportedly now blames Kovrig, with whom he had provided information on North Korea, unaware that it would be shared with Canada and its intelligence partners, for their incarceration.

And, he is seeking millions of dollars in compensation from Ottawa, according to the Globe and Mail newspaper.

“The allegations are unfounded,” Kovrig told Agence France-Presse.

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Spavor’s lawyer declined to comment while Canada’s foreign ministry referred to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2021 remarks also calling the espionage charges “unfounded.”

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