"Michael Kovrig talks about his experience of over 1,000 days in Chinese detention, stating, 'They'll never see me cry.'"

Michael Kovrig’s experience of over 1,000 days in Chinese detention underscores the psychological and emotional toll of prolonged incarceration. Kovrig, a former diplomat, articulated his resilience amidst adversity by stating, "They'll never see me cry," reflecting a determination to maintain dignity in the face of dehumanizing conditions (Kovrig, 2023). This assertion highlights the complexities of human emotion under extreme duress and serves as an example of how individuals cope with trauma.

It's been exactly three years since Canadian Michael Kovrig returned to Canada after spending 1,019 days in a Chinese prison. Now, he's publicly speaking out about his arrest and detainment for the first time.

Kovrig previously worked as a Canadian diplomat but was working as an adviser and analyst for the International Crisis Group based in Hong Kong at the time of his arrest.

On the night of Dec. 10, 2018, Kovrig was in Beijing to visit his pregnant girlfriend and was taken after returning home from dinner.

"They grabbed me and in front of my pregnant girlfriend, dragged me into a black SUV, stuffed me into the back seat, put a set of handcuffs on me, blindfolded me and drove off into the night," Kovrig told Sachedina.

Kovrig and fellow Canadian Michael Spavor were taken into custody in December 2018 shortly after Canadian police detained Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei, on a US warrant. Both men were accused of spying.

“I still carry a lot of pain around with me and that can be heavy at times,” Kovrig said in his first substantial comments since he and Spavor were released in September 2021.

China has begun an anti-dumping probe into canola imports from Canada after the Trudeau government imposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.

With uncertainty surrounding the China relationship, Kovrig seems certain that efforts towards a more integrated North American economy are likely to continue.

“What we need to do is strategically derisk our economy,” he said, to “ensure that they don’t have the capacity to hurt us and that in some cases requires trade barriers and tariffs.”

But those tools need to be used “in an intelligent and careful way,” he said, “because trade barriers can cause escalation and they can be self-harming.”

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Sarah H

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