By Scott Taylor
Ever since Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – aka ‘the two Michaels’ - were first detained by Chinese authorities on charges of espionage in December 2018, there has been a paucity of detailed analysis as to just exactly who these two gentlemen really are.
This remained the case throughout their 34-month detention and even after their release in September 2021.
The official line was that they were definitely not spies as the Chinese alleged and they were ‘arbitrarily’ abducted.
The rationale for the ‘two Michaels’ arrest was considered to be retaliation for Canada’s detention of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the tech giants’ founder, on a U.S. extradition request. The brief bios of these men outlined that Kovrig was a former Global Affairs Canada diplomat and that Spavor was a businessman living and working in China.
Although occasionally mentioned, Canadian media glossed over the part that Kovrig was a retired diplomat then currently employed by the International Crisis Group – which was founded by billionaire George Soros. It was also scarcely mentioned that Spavor’s primary trade client was the North Korean government.
One would think that mere curiosity would have led journalists to delve deeper into the two Canadians who were caught up in the middle of what was dubbed ‘hostage diplomacy’ between the Canadian government and the People’s Republic of China.
However, it seemed at the time that the patriotic thing to do was to simply parrot the official line that the ‘two Michaels’ were just two random dudes that were arbitrarily picked up by Chinese goons.
It seemed laughable to most Canadians that the ‘two Michaels’ were alleged to be spies because, well, Canada just doesn’t do that kind of thing.
Unfortunately, not everyone is buying into that party line, and it turns out that Michael Spavor is one of them.
On Saturday November 18, the Globe and Mail reported that Spavor is now seeking a multi-million-dollar settlement from the Canadian government. According to two unnamed sources, the Globe report alleges that Spavor was detained because he ‘unwittingly’ provided intelligence on North Korea to Canada. Spavor’s Lawyer, John K. Phillips alleges that his client was arrested by the Chinese because of information that he shared with Kovrig, which was then passed along to the Canadian government and shared with the intelligence agencies among the Five Eyes Partnership (United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand).
The sharing of the information was done allegedly without Spavor’s knowledge or consent.
Of course Global Affairs Canada was quick to deny the allegation and to repeatedly reiterate the ‘arbitrary’ nature of the ‘two Michaels’ arrest and detention.
Coming to Kovrig’s defence, Canada’s former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques told the National Post that what the former diplomat had done in China was perfectly above board. According to Saint-Jacques it was Spavor not Kovrig that would have been under intense scrutiny because of his close ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Spavor ran a cross-cultural tour company out of the Chinese border town of Dandong. He arranged business, academic, sporting and tourist outings into North Korea – including the controversial visit of NBA star Dennis Rodman.
Spavor was a frequent guest aboard the yacht of Kim Jong-Un and the two were known to enjoy jet-skiing together.
No one can deny that the ‘two Michael’s’ detention was linked to that of Meng-Wanzhou – they were released on the same day as a negotiated swap. But these newly released details make their arrest seem less ‘arbitrary’.
Like the classic line from the movie Casablanca wherein the French police chief orders the ‘usual suspects’ to be rounded up, in this instance, Kovrig and Spavor were indeed the ‘usual suspects’.
Spavor claims Kovrig was a spy and the C.V. of Spavor as personal importer to a ruthless dictator would certainly put him on the close watch of Canadian authorities – let alone Chinese.
All very untypically Canadian.
