China formally arrests two Canadian citizens for endangering national security after holding them in detention for months amid diplomatic tensions over Huawei Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, is accused of scouting national secrets Michael Spavor, a China-based businessman, is said to have stolen intelligence Both worked for overseas entities, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged Beijing previously accused the pair of working together to spy on China Their detentions are viewed as China's retaliation over Meng Wanzhou's arrest Huawei exec. Meng was arrested in Canada under a U.S. warrant in December By Tracy You For Mailonline Published: 09:43 BST, 16 May 2019 | Updated: 10:07 BST, 16 May 2019 Viewcomments China has formally arrested two Canadian citizens for endangering the country's national security after detaining them late last year. Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, is accused of scouting Chinese national secrets and intelligence for overseas entities. While Michael Spavor, a China-based businessman who organised trips to North Korea, is said to have stolen Chinese national secrets and provided the information to overseas entities. Their detentions last December have been viewed as China's retaliation on Canada after Meng Wanzhou, an executive of Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver under the request of the U.S. Their formal arrests, confirmed by Beijing today, are likely to further increase the tensions between Ottawa, Beijing and Washington. Michael Kovrig (pictured), a former Canadian diplomat, was detained in China on December 10 Michael Spavor (pictured) is a China-based businessman who organised trips to North Korea Both Kovrig and Spavor are accused of working for overseas entities, said a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. The spokesperson, Lu Kang, said the two Canadians were formally arrested 'recently' without giving further details at a daily press briefing. Beijing has previously accused Kovrig and Spavor of working together to spy on China. Chinese authorities said in March that the 'stolen' intelligence had been passed onto Kovrig by Spavor. The detentions have been viewed as China's retaliation on Canada after Meng Wanzhou (pictured), an executive of Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver under the request of the U.S Both Kovrig and Spavor were detained in December and have been held by Beijing for months Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility