BEIJING, 22 March, 2021 (TON): On Monday, China opened a trial against the former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, held for espionage charges for over two years, a week less after it launched proceedings against another Canadian national, Michael Spavor.

The trial was not made public and opened behind closed doors, the media reported.

Diplomats from more than two dozen countries, including Germany, attempted in vain to gain access to the proceeding.

Kovrig and Spavor, whose trial opened on March 19, were arrested in December 2018 following the detention of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei, in Canada at the instigation of US authorities.

Kovrig had been arbitrarily detained, Jim Nickel, the Charges d'Affaires at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing said.

"And now we see that the court process itself is not transparent. We are very troubled by this. The reason that has been given to us while we are being denied access to our citizen-facing trial is that this is a so-called national security case and therefore it is a closed case, a closed court room," he added.

It is likely to say that if both of the defendants are convicted, they have to face long prison terms.