Canada’s Two Michaels Land in Calgary After Release by China
Canada’s Two Michaels Land in Calgary After Release by China
(Bloomberg) -- Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig arrived back in Canada early Saturday after nearly three years of detention in China linked to the arrest of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.
Meng also returned home, to Shenzhen, the Chinese city where Huawei is based. Her return was covered on live TV Saturday and closely followed on social media.
The Canadian pair, who become known as the Two Michaels, landed in Calgary shortly before 8 a.m. EDT aboard a Canadian military jet, accompanied by Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China.
CTV News captured the arrival of the pair. Sporting blazers and face masks, Spavor and Kovrig exchanged hugs and elbow bumps with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was waiting on the tarmac.
“These two men have gone through an unbelievably difficult ordeal,” Trudeau said Friday. “For the past 1,000 days, they have shown strength, perseverance, resilience and grace.”
The pair were arrested in China in December 2018 in what was seen as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of the top Huawei Technologies Co. executive at the request of U.S. authorities.
She spent her time in confinement under house arrest in her Vancouver mansion, venturing out at times to shop at high-end boutiques with private security in tow.
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