Central organizer for Communist Party in Canada celebrates detention of Canadians in China

On his Twitter account @DrapeauRouge, Jay Watts responded to a Global Times tweet about the Chinese FM defending the detention of the two men.

“Hi, Canadian here: those two were definitely spies, Kovrig's boss even went on Canadian state media the day after his detention and said he was unregistered and meeting with dissident representatives of ethnic populations who had bones to pick with the government of China,” responded Watts.

He followed up the tweet by saying: “I also think the Canadian government will stick to battling via the feeble Canadian media because they know China has actual evidence and it's going to embarrass the shit out of them if they provoke China into releasing it.”

Kovrig and Spavor have now been in interrogation and incarceration facilities for about 560 days. They have been charged with espionage by Chinese authorities which is potentially punishable with life in prison.

The two men have both been charged with spying on national secrets as well as intelligence for non-Chinese entities.

The Communist Party of Canada was founded in 1921 and is the second oldest party that is still active—after the Liberal Party. The party leader is currently Elizabeth Rowley, a politician and political activist.

On its website, the party describes its values saying, “We have a proud, 90 year history of fighting for a socialist future for Canada. We are a small party with big ideas. The Communist Party is a registered Federal political party, and we have successfully campaigned for that democratic right, and pushed forward the legal rules on political parties in Canada.”

“The Communist Party is dedicated to the cause of socialism. As we say in our programme (agreement with which is the basis of membership in the Party) the achievement of socialism, based on working class power in Canada and internationally, will mark a real advance towards true democracy – the rule of the people, by the people and for the people.”