Germany’s UN Envoy Calls for Release of Kovrig and Spavor; China Fires Back

A man holds a sign with photographs of Canadian citizen Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December 2018, during rally in support of Hong Kong democracy in Vancouver on Aug. 16, 2020. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

Germany’s envoy to the United Nations (U.N.), during his last scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting, called on Beijing to release Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for Christmas, prompting a harsh rebuke from China’s deputy U.N. envoy in response.

“Let me end my tenure in the Security Council by appealing to my Chinese colleagues to ask Beijing for the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor,” Christoph Heusgen, the Permanent Representative of Germany to the U.N., said during a Security Council meeting on Dec. 22.