Canada is ready to pay settlements to two men imprisoned in China in 2018—report.

On Tuesday, the Globe and Mail reported that the Canadian government is prepared to approve settlement agreements worth several million dollars for Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. These packages are intended to pay them for the almost three years they were jailed in Chinese jails, respectively.

The two men, detained in 2018, are currently in compensation talks with federal lawyers, hoping to conclude financial settlements early in the new year, according to the media outlet. The media outlet also stated that Canada was concerned about a potential lawsuit from Spavor that could put the spotlight on a government security reporting program.

The Canadian government has offered each of them around $3 million ($2.27 million). Still, according to the newspaper, Spavor’s attorney has requested $10.5 million, claiming that the government has shown extreme carelessness in managing security reporting procedures in China.

The Globe and Mail reported that the government was unwilling to make an offer of 10.5 million Canadian dollars and intended to make the same offer to both men equally.

In response to a request for comment, the government did not immediately respond. It was impossible to get in touch with the two Canadian males immediately.

Spavor and Kovrig were taken into jail in China shortly after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a Chinese telecom equipment company, was apprehended by Canadian authorities on a warrant issued by the United States and put into custody in China.

During the conflict between Ottawa, Washington, and Beijing, China held the two Canadian citizens for more than a thousand days. This action was at the crux of the argument. On the same day that the United States Department of Justice abandoned its extradition request for Meng and she returned to China, the men were freed in 2021.

In a closely followed case, the United States of America and Canada have stated that the Canadian men’s incarceration—referred to as “the two Michaels” by the Canadian media—was both illegal and arbitrary. Beijing, on the other hand, has denied these allegations.