TW2 Group 1 Hostage Diplomacy

Opinion | China, the hostage diplomacy isnʼt working.
Itʼs time to free Kovrig, Spavor and Yang | South China Morning Post 03/02/2020, 15)59
SCMP.COM
China / Diplomacy
China, the hostage diplomacy

isn’t working. It’s time to free
Kovrig, Spavor and Yang
Detentions lay bare the party’s brutish approach to
statecraft. If it wants to be seen as anything other than a
barbarous regime, it can’t target the innocent
Those who know and worked with the two Canadians
and Australian citizen must continue to speak out to
ensure their plight is not forgotten
Topic | Huawei
Ankit Panda
Published: 8:00pm, 14 Dec,
2019
https://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/diplomacy/article/3041795/china-hostage-diplomacy-isnt-working-its-time-free-kovrig Page 1 of 7
Opinion | China, the hostage diplomacy isnʼt working. Itʼs time to free Kovrig, Spavor and Yang | South China Morning Post 03/02/2020, 15)59
I last saw Michael Kovrig in Italy in October 2018. I last saw Michael
Spavor in South Korea in November 2018. Within weeks of us
bidding farewell, both of them were picked up by Chinese
authorities, detained first without charges for the near-maximum
duration that arbitrary detention is legally permissible in China.
Thereafter, the two were stuck with exaggerated and outrageous
charges concerning espionage activities [1].
In reality, their only “crime” – if it can be called that – was being

Canadian. Kovrig and Spavor were taken hostage and the ransom
for their release, even if o!cially unsaid, is the end of legal troubles
for Meng Wanzhou [2], the chief financial o!cer of Chinese
technology giant Huawei [3], who was charged last year with
knowingly spearheading the company’s violation of US sanctions.
Both men were arrested shortly after Meng’s initial arrest.
As much as anything else, this hostage diplomacy has laid bare the
Communist Party’s brutish approach to statecraft. The gambit
hasn’t worked because despite the pain and abuse both men have
endured, Canada has remained committed to letting the rule of law
run its course on Meng’s still-pending extradition to the United
States.
Huawei chief @nancial oCcer Meng Wanzhou is out on bail and remains under partial house
arrest in Vancouver after she was detained last year. Photo: AP
The two men have had consular visits from Canadian o!cials, but
accounts of their treatment are shocking. This July, it was reported
that Chinese authorities had seized Kovrig’s reading glasses,
denying him what little escapism might have been possible in his
otherwise horrendous predicament.
If President Xi Jinping’s China is to be seen as anything other than a

hostage-taker, it must release both men immediately. China cannot
give either of them back that one year of their lives, but it can
recognise that there is nothing to be gained from making an
example of them. The odds of the Canadian government paying the
ransom that is being tacitly demanded are nil.
Beyond both Michaels, the Chinese government’s hostage-taking

has also a"ected others. Yang Hengjun [4], a man who I never met
but a gifted writer whom I occasionally edited, has also been taken
into Chinese custody. Yang, an Australian citizen of Chinese origin,
has reportedly been tortured, underscoring how the party reserves
special punishment for those of Chinese ethnicity it deems to have
transgressed its red lines. He too has been charged with espionage.
Chinese-Australian writer and activist Yang Hengjun has been charged with espionage. Photo:
Reuters
Those of us who know and worked with Kovrig, Spavor and Yang
must continue to speak out – to ensure that their plight is not
forgotten – but there is a greater obligation on those of us who may
find ourselves invited to China for conferences and exchanges, to
decline. Among think tanks, businesses, and research institutions
in the United States and US-allied states, including Canada,
Australia, Britain and even Japan, changes are needed to
institutional travel policies.
In today’s climate, mutual communication and exchange between

those of us who reside and work in these countries and China is
more necessary than ever, but these exchanges cannot take place
safely on Chinese soil. Above all, if changes are to be made, they
must be made prominently – so that Chinese institutions seeking
out exchange might know why exactly their invitations are being
politely turned down.
It remains unclear if the Kovrig, Spavor and Yang cases will lead to
any meaningful cost imposition by the a"ected governments on
China. To date, both Canada and Australia have spoken out,
demanded that China release these men, and, to their credit, have
sustained this energy. But without real costs, these three men
won’t be the last. Recently, for instance, a Japanese professor who
was invited by a prestigious Chinese think tank was also arrested.
China’s detention of writer Yang Hengjun

on espionage charges is ‘unacceptable’,
Australia warns
2 Dec 2019
[5]
The case for cost imposition can be made by appealing to self-
interest too. Spavor, for instance, a businessman, had his life’s
works and assets snatched from him for no other reason than his
passport. If that isn’t a wake-up call to every other foreign
entrepreneur seeking to build a life and business in China, it should
be. Yang’s case, meanwhile, underscores the particular trouble that
Western governments will continue to have in providing su!cient
protection for naturalised Chinese citizens – particularly those who
will seek to have their views heard in our open societies.
If the party wishes to be seen as anything other than a barbarous

regime, it cannot target innocent individuals just because of who
they are. Kovrig, Spavor and Yang must be freed.
Ankit Panda is a senior editor at the Diplomat
Source URL:
https://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3041795/china-hostage-
diplomacy-isnt-working-its-time-free-kovrig
Links
[1] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3010517/china-
charges-canadians-michael-kovrig-and-michael-spavor
[2] https://www.scmp.com/topics/meng-wanzhou
[3] https://www.scmp.com/topics/huawei
[4]
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/3024454/australian-

TW2 Group 1 Hostage Diplomacy

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Opinion | China, the hostage diplomacy isnʼt working.

China, the hostage diplomacy

In reality, their only “crime” – if it can be called that – was being

If President Xi Jinping’s China is to be seen as anything other than a

Beyond both Michaels, the Chinese government’s hostage-taking

In today’s climate, mutual communication and exchange between

China’s detention of writer Yang Hengjun

If the party wishes to be seen as anything other than a barbarous

Ankit Panda is a senior editor at the Diplomat

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