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BEIJING — China has charged two detained Canadians with spying in cases linked to Canada's arrest of a Huawei executive on U.S. charges.
Chinese prosecutors said Friday that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been charged.
Kovrig was charged in Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence.
Spavor was charged in Dandong city near the North Korean border on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.
The charges were announced by China's highest prosecutor's office in brief social media posts.
Both men have been held since December 2018 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The daughter of Huawei's founder was arrested in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities who want her on fraud charges, which she and the company have denied.
Extradition hearings are ongoing in B.C. Supreme Court after a judge rejected the first set of arguments from Meng's lawyers late last month.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa denounced that decision by Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes and called once more for Meng's immediate release.
Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne responded in turn by calling for the release of the two "arbitrarily detained" Canadian men.
Kovrig is an ex-diplomat who was working for the International Crisis Group and Spavor is an entrepreneur who did business in North Korea.
They have been in Chinese prisons since they were arrested nine days after Meng's arrest.
— With files from The Canadian Press
The Associated Press
