The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
– ‘He loves China’ –
Kovrig, a Mandarin speaker, was a political officer at the embassy from 2014-2016 who met with dissidents and travelled to China’s restive far west Xinjiang region, Saint-Jacques said.
He took an unpaid leave from the embassy because he “loves China” and wanted to continue to work in the country, the former ambassador said.
“It’s easy to concoct espionage accusations against someone in China,” he said. “When I learned the news this morning it deeply saddened me because Michael was a good political officer, but he is not a spy at all.”
The US State Department called on China to “end all forms of arbitrary detentions.”
Brussels-based ICG said in a statement that it has received no information about Kovrig since his detention and is concerned about his health and safety.
“Michael did not engage in illegal activities nor did he do anything that endangered Chinese national security,” ICG president Robert Malley told AFP.
“He was doing what all Crisis Group analysts do: undertaking objective and impartial research.”
