Crisis Group Chiefs Urge China to Free Canadian Held for Year
- Executives seek analyst’s release ahead of anniversary in jail
- Michael Kovrig detained amid spat over Huawei extradition case
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Former and current International Crisis Group chiefs urged China to free a Canadian analyst ahead of his year anniversary in jail, a case that has strained ties between Beijing and Ottawa and fanned fears among business travelers.
President Robert Malley and three of his predecessors called for the immediate release of Michael Kovrig -- a Hong Kong-based analyst for the Brussels-based research group and a former Canadian diplomat -- in a commentary published Wednesday in the Washington Post. The executives argued that Kovrig’s detention by secret police on Dec. 10, 2018, undercut efforts to better understand China at a time of growing global criticism.