Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the sentencing of Canadian detainee in China, Michael Spavor, to eleven years in jail for alleged espionage. Both Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig have been in jail in China for two-and-a-half years. They were imprisoned shortly after Chinese Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, was detained in Canada to be extradited to the United States on international fraud charges.

On Monday, a Chinese court sentenced Canadian Robert Schellenberg to death, convicted of drug smuggling. Minister Marc Garneau says the sentencing of Spavor on Wednesday and Schellenberg on Monday is a tactic to push foreign governments into action, and it is against international law. He adds that there has been a lack of transparency and legal process and there has been inconsistent consular access.

Garneau says Canada is committed to working toward a release for all three Canadians. He can’t say whether there are any talks about trading the detainees for Meng Wanzhou.