Trudeau Lashes China For 'political Detentions'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday blasted China's detention of two Canadians for "political ends," following charges against them for spying.

His comments came after China's Supreme People's Procuratorate on Friday said it had begun the prosecution of Hong Kong-based ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, who were "suspected of foreign espionage" and "providing state secrets."

The move, 18 months after their arrest in a spat between the two countries, came just weeks after a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to the United States will go ahead.

Relations between Canada and China have hit rock bottom over the arrests.

At his daily briefing on Monday, Trudeau said: "This arbitrary detention of Canadian citizens is unacceptable and deeply concerning, not just to Canadians but to people around the world who see China using arbitrary detentions as a means to political ends."

Trudeau said "we deplore... a political decision made by the Chinese government" which continues to pressure Canada.

Beijing has also blocked billions of dollars' worth of Canadian agricultural exports.

Trudeau last week said he was "disappointed" that the Canadians were formally charged with spying, and his deputy, Chrystia Freeland, said she was "heartbroken and really angry" over Beijing's action.

Former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, had urged Ottawa to take a more aggressive stance, "not just soft diplomatic talk anymore."

In an interview with public broadcaster CBC, Kovrig's wife Vina Nadjibulla agreed more pressure on China was needed, as "words are no longer enough."

But she said "I'm interested in us being strong, but not antagonistic. We cannot win a race to the bottom with China, we cannot become aggressive and confrontational because confrontation is not a strategy."

Nadjibulla insisted that both her husband and Spavor are innocent and "pawns in a bigger geopolitical game."

It is "heartbreaking," she said, knowing that Kovrig is languishing in a cell he described in letters to her and other family as a "concrete jungle."

"Basically he has been confined to a single cell this entire time. He has not gone outside. He has not seen a tree or had fresh air to breathe for 560 days," she said. (AFP)