【中国观察2020年12月11日讯】当地时间周四下午，在中共外交部举行的例行记者会上，有美国媒体记者提问，加拿大人康明凯和斯帕弗已被中国扣押2年，如果华为财务总监孟晚舟回到中国，康明凯和斯帕弗是否可以回到加拿大？
华春莹当场回答称，这两个案子的性质不一样，孟晚舟案是“政治事件”，但两名加拿大公民由于“涉嫌危害中国国家安全”，中方的主管机构已对他们“逮捕、起诉和审理”。
这个回答令外界质疑，并对两名加拿大人的现状感到担忧。加拿大政府当天即发表声明称，目前并无证据表明，这两名加拿大公民的案件已开始审理，为此，加国政府已要求中共政府就华春莹的上述说法作出说明。
当天稍晚，加拿大全球事务部发出声明称，加拿大驻北京外交官已证实，康明凯与斯帕弗的案件尚未开庭审理。
该声明指出，经求证，中方官员“证实因中国外交部发言人的不准确表述，致引起混乱”。中共官员解释说，华春莹在记者会上的发言，并未明确解释目前案件的相关程序，导致外界误以为法院已开始审理两名加拿大人的案件。
2018年12月，在加拿大应美国司法机构的要求逮捕过境加国的孟晚舟后不久，中共国安机构就拘捕了加拿大前外交官康明凯和加国公民斯帕弗。中共指控这两人涉嫌“危害中国国家安全”，而加国政要和国际舆论均谴责，中共政府在搞“人质外交”。
孟晚舟目前在加拿大依然享受着舒适的生活条件，保释在家等候司法裁决。但与此同时，在很长一段时间内，两名被中共扣押的加拿大公民却被中共司法机关剥夺了与私人律师及家属见面的机会。
今年1月至10月期间，中共官方借口发生了中共肺炎(COVID-19)疫情，一直不允许任何人探视这两名加国公民，连加拿大驻中国的外交官也无法与他们见面，甚至连视频探视的要求也不准许。
虽然加拿大驻华大使本周出席加国下议院的听证会时，声称康明凯与斯帕弗的状况“良好”，但外界仍不清楚他们二人究竟被关在何处，也不清楚他们目前的健康状况和具体处境究竟如何。
加拿大总理特鲁多上周五曾表示，让两名加拿大人获释是他的“首要任务”。此前他还曾多次表示，“不会屈服于中国的胁迫外交”。
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying claimed at a press conference Thursday (10) that Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor had been "charged and tried" in China. The Canadian government then questioned the Chinese government about this, and the Chinese side denied that the case had been tried. Taiwan media joked that Hua Chunying was "hit in the face by her own people" this time.
On Thursday afternoon local time, at the regular press conference held by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, a reporter from the U.S. media asked whether the Canadians Kang Mingkai and Spavor, who have been detained by China for two years, could return to Canada if Huawei's financial director Meng Wanzhou returned to China.
Hua Chunying replied on the spot that the two cases are different in nature, Meng Wanzhou's case is a "political incident", but the two Canadian citizens have been "arrested, prosecuted and tried" by the Chinese authorities for "allegedly endangering China's national security".
The response raised questions and concerns about the status of the two Canadians. The Canadian government issued a statement the same day saying that there was no evidence that the case against the two Canadians had begun, and that it had asked the Chinese government to clarify Hua's statement.
Later that day, Global Affairs Canada issued a statement saying that Canadian diplomats in Beijing had confirmed that the case against Kang and Spavor had not yet been heard.
The statement noted that, upon request, Chinese officials "confirmed that confusion had arisen due to an inaccurate statement by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson. Chinese officials explained that Hua Chunying's statement at the press conference did not clearly explain the current procedures in the case, leading to the misconception that the court had begun hearing the case against the two Canadians.
In December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, who was in transit to Canada, at the request of the U.S. judiciary, the Chinese Communist Party's state security agency arrested Kang Mingkai, a former Canadian diplomat, and Spavor, a Canadian citizen. The Chinese government accused the two men of "endangering China's national security," while Canadian dignitaries and international public opinion denounced the Chinese government as engaging in "hostage diplomacy.
Meng is still enjoying comfortable living conditions in Canada and is home on bail pending a judicial decision. In the meantime, however, the two Canadian citizens held by the Chinese Communist Party have been denied access to their private lawyers and families by the Chinese judicial authorities for a long period of time.
Between January and October of this year, under the pretext of a communist pneumonia outbreak (COVID-19), the Chinese government did not allow anyone to visit the two Canadians, and even Canadian diplomats in China were denied access to them, even by video.
Although Canada's ambassador to China stated during a House of Commons hearing this week that Kang and Spavor were in "good condition," it remains unclear where they are being held and what their current health status and condition are.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that getting the two Canadians released was his "top priority". He has also repeatedly said that he "will not give in to Chinese coercive diplomacy".