A court in China sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for alleged espionage Wednesday, prompting outrage from the U.S. and Canada …
A court in China sentenced Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for alleged espionage Wednesday, prompting outrage from the U.S. and Canada as tensions remain high amid an ongoing diplomatic dispute. The intermediate court in Dandong, a border city near North Korea, found Spavor guilty of providing state secrets to overseas contacts and ruled he would be ultimately deported after completing his prison sentence, according to NPR. Spavor has already spent nearly three years in detention with almost no contact with Canada’s government. Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China, said during a press conference Monday that the timing of Spavor’s sentencing is “not a coincidence.” He told reporters the Chinese court’s decision is linked to another high-profile espionage case in Canada involving Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
