[2] In December 2018, he was detained in Beijing by Chinese authorities and held for 1,019 days on charges widely seen as politically-motivated and retaliatory for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
[2][11] In 2010, he joined the Canadian Foreign Service, and served at Global Affairs Canada’s headquarters in Ottawa as a senior desk officer in the international security branch.
[15][16] Since 2017, he has worked for the International Crisis Group, a transnational non-profit focused on preventing and resolving deadly conflict through research and advocacy, as a Senior Adviser.
[11][17] He has written and advocated on various geopolitical issues, including China’s politics and international relations, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and maritime disputes in the Western Pacific.
[18][19][20][21][22][23] From December 2018 to September 2021, Kovrig, along with Michael Spavor, was detained by the Beijing State Security Bureau and held prisoner in an attempt to pressure the Government of Canada into releasing the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou.
[17] In a 2024 interview, Kovrig said that he was subjected to “total isolation and relentless interrogation for six to nine hours every day” and “spent his first five months of detainment in solitary confinement with blackout blinds over the windows.