Canadian businessman Michael Spavor called his country’s embassy in Beijing from an airport in northeast China. Authorities questioned him after he was blocked from boarding a flight outside China.
Embassy concern over the call was alarmed when officials learned that another Canadian had been arrested in Beijing that day, December 10, 2018, according to people familiar with the matter. This time, it was former diplomat Michael Kovrig.
Since then, the two men have been pushed to the center of a confrontation between Canada, the US and China, where they have been arrested and charged with espionage. Recently, among family members and supporters of the hope, hope had risen that men could be released if separate talks to resolve criminal charges against Meng Wanzhou, an executive at Huawei Technologies Co., of the China, they bore fruit. Canada has accused China of detaining the two men in retaliation for Ms. Meng’s arrest at the request of US extradition.
With both sides delving into demands too far apart, these discussions stopped and are now inactive, according to people who know the subject. The Biden administration could review the talks in the coming months, people said, but the timing of this move is unclear. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a phone call earlier this month that the United States would do everything possible to secure the release of the two men.