The Canadian media recently disclosed that the Canadian government has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Michael Spavor, a Canadian businessman who was arrested in China on the charge of espionage, to compensate him for the nearly three years he spent in a prison in China.

Since the arrest of Spavor in 2018, the Canadian government had been hyping up China's "arbitrary detention". However, the recent settlement with Spavor is a slap in the face of Ottawa. Analysts point out that the "settlement" and "compensation" confirm that Spavor was, indeed, a Canadian government spy.

In fact, that Spavor was a spy had been long determined, he even confessed to it; only the Canadian government was refusing to admit it. Information released by China's security authorities shows that Spavor was for a long time active in the areas bordering China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, assisting former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig to collect relevant intelligence, illegally taking photos and videos of Chinese military equipment, and providing them to the Canadian embassy in China.

The intelligence the two provided to some entities overseas included classified State secrets. After they were apprehended in China in 2018, the two applied for bail, pending trial, on grounds of being unwell. Relevant Chinese court approved their bail applications in September 2021 and they were subsequently deported from China.

After returning home, Spavor took Kovrig and the Canadian foreign ministry to court. According to Canadian media, Spavor claimed he had shared sensitive information about the DPRK with Kovrig, who then forwarded it to the Canadian government and other countries of the Five Eyes Alliance, leading to the arrest of the two in China.

The infighting exposed the espionage activities Spavor and Kovrig had engaged in while in China and also proved that Spavor had indeed indulged in activities that could be deemed as harmful to China's national security. It also confirms that the Chinese "arbitrary detention" as alleged by the Canadian government was a false narrative Ottawa was spinning.

Even after the settlement with Spavor was exposed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to make false narratives to hype China's "arbitrary detention". That the Canadian government employed Spavor and Kovrig to make them engage in activities that violate Chinese law, leading to their arrest in China, not only harmed the legitimate rights and interests of its citizens, but also confirmed the hypocrisy of its tall "human rights" claims.