Chinese allow Michael Kovrig telephone call to sick father

OTTAWA — The Chinese embassy in Canada says Michael Kovrig has been allowed to have a telephone conversation with his father who is very ill.

The embassy says in a statement that they allowed this for humanitarian reasons.

According to the statement, Chinese authorities have also provided better food to Kovrig and fellow Canadian detainee Michael Spavor to strengthen their immunity in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Kovrig and Spavor were detained in China in December 2018 for what was apparent retaliation for the arrest of Chinese tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada.

Neither man has seen a lawyer or been permitted visits from their families, while Meng has been released on bail and is living in a luxurious Vancouver home while her extradition hearing plays out.

Friday’s Chinese statement also maintains the hardline take by Beijing since the events of December 2018, which have plunged Sino-Canadian relations to a new low.

It says Kovrig and Spavor are “suspected” endangering China’s national security and their cases are being handled lawfully while the Canadian government “can not explain which law of Canada Ms. Meng Wanzhou violated.”

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