China sends Canadian to prison for 11 years in case tied to Huawei

A Chinese court sentenced Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison Wednesday in a spying case that has been linked to Beijing’s pressure campaign against the Canadian government over the arrest of an executive at tech giant Huawei.

Spavor and another Canadian were detained in China in what critics labeled “hostage politics” after the executive, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested at the Vancouver airport in late 2018 at the request of U.S. authorities.

A Canadian court will hear final arguments in the next few weeks over whether to hand Meng over to face U.S. criminal charges in connection with possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran.