A Chinese court jailed a Canadian tour organizer for 11 years for spying, while leaving room for his eventual deportation — a ruling that appeared timed to pressure Ottawa in extradition proceedings against a top Huawei Technologies Co. executive.
Michael Spavor, who organized tours to North Korea, was sentenced after being found guilty of stealing and illegally providing state secrets to other countries, the Dandong Intermediate People’s Court said in a statement Wednesday. Spavor will also be deported, the court said, without elaborating whether that would happen after his full sentence and whether the almost 1,000 days he has already spent in detention would be deducted from his term.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the verdict as "absolutely unacceptable and unjust” while David Meale, the top U.S. diplomat in Beijing, called the proceedings a "blatant attempt to use human beings as bargaining leverage.” Diplomats from 25 countries, including Japan, Germany and the U.K., gathered at the Canadian Embassy in a gesture Ambassador Dominic Barton said showed Beijing "that all the eyes of the world are watching.”