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China charges 2 Canadians with spying in Huawei-linked case

FILE - In this July 30, 2019, file photo a woman walks by a Huawei retail store in Beijing. The U.S. government gave chipmakers and technology companies a 90-day extension to sell products to technology giant Huawei. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

BEIJING (AP) — China has charged two detained Canadians with spying in cases linked to Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive on U.S. charges.

Chinese prosecutors said Friday that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been charged.

Kovrig was charged in Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence. Spavor was charged in Dandong city near the North Korean border on suspicion of spying for foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.

Both men have been held since December 2018 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities who want her on fraud charges.

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