China slams ‘lies and smears’ after Canadian ex-diplomat alleges torture

BEIJING – China on Tuesday condemned “lies and smears” and defended its three-year detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig after he alleged psychological torture during his imprisonment in the country.

Canadians Michael Spavor and Kovrig, who became known as “the two Michaels”, were detained by Beijing in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of a senior Huawei executive on a US warrant.

All three of them were freed in September 2021.

In an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC released Monday, Kovrig alleged he was held in solitary confinement and that guards tried to “bully and torment and terrorize and coerce” him during his confinement in Beijing.

“The United Nations standard is no more than 15 days in solitary confinement. More than that is considered psychological torture. I was there for nearly six months,” he told CBC.

Asked about Kovrig’s claims at a regular briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisted “China is a country under the rule of law”.

“Lies and smears cannot change the fact that the person you mentioned broke the law and committed crimes,” he said.

“We advise the relevant parties to respect the facts and reflect on their mistakes,” he added.

Beijing’s 2018 to 2021 detentions of “the two Michaels” on espionage charges plunged bilateral relations into a deep freeze.

Kovrig told CBC his detention was “psychologically, absolutely, the most gruelling, painful thing I’ve ever been through”.

“It’s a combination of… total isolation and relentless interrogation for six to nine hours every day, on and on and on,” he said. – AFP