Michael Spavor sentenced to 11 Years; Meng Wanzhou Hearing, New YouTube Videos
Your weekly China update from Cyrus Janssen
Hello Friends,
Today's newsletter covers the following topics:
Current news: Sentencing of Canadian to 11-years prison
New YouTube Videos: Mistrust in foreign media and Meng Wanzhou
1. One of the “Two Michaels” sentenced for espionage
Verdict announced against two Canadian nationals. Last Wednesday, a Chinese court sentenced Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for "foreign espionage and illegal disclosure of state secrets." In addition, Robert Schellenberg was given the death penalty for drug trafficking over 222kg of methamphetamine into China.
The verdict of Michael Kovrig has yet to be announced and many are assuming the Chinese government is awaiting the results of the Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing before revealing the sentence for Kovrig.
The tension between the United States, Canada, and China is increasing daily, however I still believe there is time to fix this complex international dispute and move forward with better relations between all three countries. I have to imagine, President Biden has been in talk with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this past week, and they are discussing what the best options are moving forward.
In my opinion, the best case scenario for Canada is that President Biden stops continuing the legacy of former President Donald Trump and calls for an end to the Meng Wanzhou extradition case.
I’ve covered the Meng Wanzhou case extensively on my YouTube channel and in this video, I explain in detail why she is innocent. If the US continues to go down this path and force her to be extradited to America, this would take US/China relations to a new low.
It’s time for rational decisions to be made from Washington DC and I believe there is hope for this to still happen. Last month, the United States Department of Justice dropped multiple cases against Chinese researchers who were accused of hiding military ties.
2. New YouTube Videos: Foreign Media mistrust in China
This video will go live on my YouTube Channel August 13th at 9pm New York Time.
I first explain the bias of Western media in reporting about China. I show some examples, such as the incident of a German journalist in Zhengzhou, and various articles from the BBC and the New York Times, which lead to the Chinese being rather cautious. Finally, I give advice to Western media reporters on how to better understand China and the Chinese people.
On Monday, August 16th, I will be going to downtown Vancouver to attend the Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing again. You can expect a new video on the latest news from Meng sometime next week as well.
I hope you enjoyed today's edition of my newsletter. Let me know if you have any feedback or comments. If you like the newsletter, please like and share. Have a great weekend ahead!
Cyrus