It was a “highly choreographed” affair, the parallel returns of Meng Wanzhou to China and the long-awaited homecoming of the two Michaels — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — to Canada.
www.thestar.com
China, Canada and the U.S. all insist there was ‘no deal’ to bring the two Michaels home
By
Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau
Mon., Sept. 27, 2021
timer5 min. read
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OTTAWA — It was a “highly choreographed” affair, the parallel returns of Meng Wanzhou to China and the long-awaited homecoming of the two Michaels — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — to Canada.
But Canada, the United States and China all deny there was any deal or negotiation to liberate the two Canadian detainees in return for the release of Huawei’s chief financial officer.
And on Monday, governments in the East and West told very different stories of how and why it all came about.
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The U.S. and Canada insisted that the decision to release the two men was reached by the Chinese authorities in the face of unrelenting pressure by Canadian, American and international allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who opposed China’s “arbitrary detention” of them.
In the Chinese version, the two Canadian detainees sought bail “for medical reasons.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said they “confessed to their crimes” and were released on bail after an examination by Chinese medical authorities, a guarantee put up by Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, and after a court order gave the green light. Hua Chunying warned national security charges could be pursued if the men fail to “abide” by the bail ruling.
In an interview with the Star, Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the United States, acknowledged there was a “highly choreographed” arrangement to whisk Kovrig and Spavor out of China once it was clear that Meng’s defence lawyers were poised to reach a plea deal — a deferred prosecution agreement — with the U.S. Department of Justice.
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“Those stars started to align in the past month,” she said. “It wasn’t clear that it was going to succeed, but it was clear that ... something had shifted, and that there may be an opportunity here.”
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Hillman, who had been deeply involved in efforts over two years to pressure China for the Canadians’ release, said the Chinese government “decided” to act when it was clear Meng’s talks with the U.S. were “advancing, and under this pressure that had been mounting” by Canada, its embassy in Beijing, and allies around the world. “China, at some point … came to the decision that they wanted to put this behind them.”
She declined to comment on China’s claim that the Canadians were released for health reasons. “China made a decision, right? China decided to detain them, China decided to let them go,” she said.
“Their motivations are their motivations, and I think people are drawing conclusions from the facts here.”
Neither Kovrig nor his family were giving interviews Monday. Aside from looking pale, he and Spavor appeared strong as they came down the stairs of a government jet in Calgary on Saturday morning, and a Canadian official told the Star they appeared “remarkably” strong and resilient.
In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki insisted that there was “no negotiation” between China and the Biden administration, and that Meng’s release was an independently made “law-enforcement decision.”
The decision to reach a deferred prosecution agreement with Meng, which allowed her to plead not guilty on Friday in exchange for admissions that Huawei had tried to evade U.S. sanctions against doing business in Iran, was “an action by the Department of Justice which is an independent department of justice,” she repeatedly said.