China aims to charge two Canadian citizens with theft of state secrets. The Canadians were detained on December 10 of last year, in what analysts considered to be a direct response to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver earlier that month. The US government had requested the arrest of Meng Wanzhou as it believes that she violated US sanctions on Iran.
The Canadian detainees are a former diplomat and a businessman. China now claims that the two cooperated to conduct espionage and steal state secrets. The accusations are likely a reaction to Canada’s recent announcement that it aims to follow through on a US extradition request for Meng.
Read more: China Has Accused Two Detained Canadians of Stealing State Secrets