Canada has urged China to release two high-profile Canadian detainees and grant clemency to several other Canadians sentenced to death by Chinese courts, the Canadian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during talks in Rome on Tuesday that the cases of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor remain a top priority for the Canadian government.
Their arrests have been widely viewed as retribution for Canada's detainment at the request of the United States of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co, in late 2018.