China accuses detained Canadian, Kevin Garratt, of spying for Canadian intelligence agencies - Action News
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China accuses detained Canadian, Kevin Garratt, of spying for Canadian intelligence agencies

China's Foreign Ministry said Friday that an investigation has suggested that a Canadian man charged with spying and stealing Chinese state secrets had carried out assignments for Canadian intelligence agencies.

Kevin Garratt and his wife Julia were arrested in August 2014. She was later released on bail

Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, shown here flanked by their son Peter and daughter Hannah, were detained in Aug. 2014 near the border with North Korea. China has accused Kevin Garratt of spying for Canada intelligence agencies. (Simeon Garratt)

China's Foreign Ministry said Friday that an investigation has suggested that a Canadian man charged with spying and stealing Chinese state secrets had carried out assignments for Canadian intelligence agencies.

Canada's government said Thursday it was concerned that Kevin Garratt had been indicted and that it had raised his case with the Chinese government "at high levels."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said authorities found evidence "which implicates Garratt in accepting assignments from Canadian espionage agencies to gather intelligence in China."

Garratt has been indicted by prosecutors in Dandong, a city on the North Korean border where he and his wife ran a popular coffee shop and conducted Christian aid work for North Koreans.

Garratt and his wife Julia who have lived in China for 30 years were arrested in August 2014 by the state security bureau. Julia Garrattwas released on bail in February 2015.

The couple's son,Simeon Garratt, who lives in Vancouver, has denied his parents were involved in espionage.

With files from CBC News