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Neither man, who are reportedly being held in solitary confinement, where the lights are never turned off and are questioned thrice daily, have been allowed contact with family or lawyers.

Meanwhile, Meng has spent her time in detention living in not one, but two multi-million-dollar Vancouver mansions. The first has six bedrooms and five bathrooms; the second has seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.

According to Reuters, in a letter to Huawei employees while detained in one of Canada’s poshest neighbourhoods, Meng wrote: “Despite being physically restricted to a very limited space during my time in Vancouver, my inner self has never felt so colourful and vast.”

Photo by DON MACKINNON/AFP via Getty Images

The detention of the two men has consistently caused political drama in Canada and has been seized on by the Conservative opposition as evidence of Trudeau’s weakness on China. High-profile Liberals, such as former prime minister Jean Chrétien, and his deputy prime minister John Manley, have argued there should be a prisoner swap — Meng for the two men.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in China, has led to a growing chorus of direct and harsh criticism of the Asian nation from around the world, especially from countries, such as Sweden and Australia, who have also had citizens “disappeared” by the Chinese state.

“I think there’s growing concerns about China’s behaviour,” said Carvin.

“We don’t have the luxury of engaging in performative diplomacy when lives are on the line, we have to do what’s most pragmatic,” said Carvin.

There are more than 100 Canadians detained in Chinese prisons, including Kovrig and Spavor. Canadian Huseyin Celil, a Uighur activist, was nabbed in Uzbekistan in 2006 and given over to the Chinese in 2007. Two Canadians face death sentences in China: Robert Schellenberg, whose 15-year prison sentence was upgraded to the death penalty for being “too lenient” for drug smuggling; and Fan Wei, who was detained in 2012, but sentenced to death last April.

• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson