INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightSIMEON GARRATTImage caption
Julia and Kevin Garratt (centre) with their children Peter and Hannah
Their second son Simeon is not pictured
Canadian couple Kevin and Julia Garratt were detained in China in 2014 and accused
Amid an escalating feud between Canada and China and allegations of retaliatory detentions, the pair tells the TheIndianSubcontinent about
what it was like - and how they ever made it home
Kevin Garratt remembers well the night he and Julia were arrested in north-eastern China
He recalls being pulled away from his wife as they walked through a restaurant's downstairs lobby, and pushed into the back of a black
sedan filled with burly officers
He thought the whole thing was some terrible mistake
Julia, forced into a separate sedan, found herself shaking in fear and shock at the sudden turn of events, and the drive in the darkness
She thought: "This is going to be my last night
"I don't think I've ever felt that level of fear and panic before
And also just sad for my family and my children, because there was no warning, there would be no chance to say goodbye." The Garratts had
lived in China since 1984, and from 2008 operated a coffee house popular with Western expats and tourists in Dandong, a city on the North
Korean border, while continuing to carry out Christian aid work.Image copyrightAFPImage caption
The couple lived in
Dandong, at the main China-North Korea border
But unbeknownst to either of them, early in 2014 and thousands of miles away,
American authorities were launching a crackdown on Chinese cyber-espionage
One of the men in their sights was Su Bin, a Chinese resident working in Canada
That June, Canadian authorities picked up Su, accused of stealing data about military projects and selling it to China, for extradition to
While China has denied it, Canadian officials and observers believed the Garratts' arrest was a tit-for-tat detention and an attempt to
pressure Canada for Su's release
Canada's ambassador in Beijing at the time, Guy Saint-Jacques, describes them as "a couple of Canadian missionaries who had been in China
30 years doing good work"
He tells the TheIndianSubcontinent their arrest "was the first case where we saw a clear retaliation for something that had happened in
When he met counterparts at the foreign ministry about the case, Saint-Jacques recalls: "They never said directly 'let's do a swap.' But
it was very clear what they wanted." On the night of the Garratts' arrest - the beginning of months of detention for the pair - they had
been invited for dinner by a friend of a friend, who told the couple they wanted to talk about their daughter going to study in Canada
But something about the dinner felt strange."It didn't seem genuine, and the daughter never came," Kevin says
Julia says it was only later they realised the whole evening had been a set-up for their arrest
"It was very carefully thought through and planned in advance
We had no idea," she says
Parts of the couple's story could be pulled directly from today's headlines
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver last December
In December,
Chinese telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou, 46, was detained in Vancouver for allegedly breaking US sanctions against Iran
This week, the US filed charges against Huawei and Meng, and the US is seeking her extradition
Both Huawei and Meng have rejected the allegations
Following Meng's arrest came threats of "grave consequences" from China if the tech heiress and chief finance officer at Huawei, China's
largest private company, was not released
In mid-December, two Canadian men - former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor - were held in China on accusations of
harming national security.Like in the Garratts' case, their detention is seen by many China analysts as a reprisal
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Michael Spavor (L) and Michael Kovrig have been put under "compulsory measures"
The Garratts' experience in detention parallels what Canadian officials and others have suggested that Kovrig and Spavor are living
through - daily interrogations, being kept in a room with lights on day and night
"I don't know what they did or didn't do, but I know what they're going through right now," says Julia
The Garratts say they were never physically harmed but were watched by guards around the clock, and had to request the most basic
necessities when they needed them
"You want a drink of water, they have to go get it for it
Brush your teeth, they get it for you
It's really meant to frighten and control you," says Kevin
Julia says the first few nights, she put a blanket over her eyes to block the light, but the guard pulled it down
"I thought: 'That's a rule, I can't cover my face to sleep in the dark, they need the lights shining in my face.' They had very strict
protocol." They also experienced daily interrogations for up to six hours
About 200 Canadians held in ChinaThe cases of Michael Spavor, Michael Kovrig and Robert Lloyd Schellenberg could be linked to China's
displeasure at arrest of Meng WanzhouKovrig, a diplomat on leave, and Spavor, a businessman with close ties to North Korea, are accused of
engaging in activities that harm China's national securitySchellenberg was convicted last year on drug smuggling charges and given a death
sentence in JanuaryCanada has accused China of "acting arbitrarily" in his sentencingThe country updated its travel advisory to China
following Schellenberg sentencing, urging caution due to risk of "arbitrary enforcement of local law"Their interrogators had a decade of
details about their time in China and their travels, and asked over and over about the minutia of their activities - the why, the when, and
"They would ask the same questions two month later and compare the answers," says Julia
"It's very, very gruelling." Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Kevin Garratt is reunited with his wife Julia in
Vancouver
Some four years later, they have documented their experience in a book, Two Tears on the Window, published in
Devout Christians, they say prayer and the support of both their close family and the wider church community helped them through their time
"I had the sense that my peace cannot be stolen from me, my true freedom cannot be stolen from me
And I think there was great comfort in that," says Julia
She was released on bail in February 2015, pending trial
In January 2016, still in detention, Kevin was charged with stealing state secrets
A month later, Su waived extradition and headed to the US, where in March he pleaded guilty to hacking into major US defence contractors,
stealing sensitive military data and sending it to China.Saint-Jacques says that Chinese officials seemed taken by surprise by Su's
decision to cut a deal with American officials
Image copyrightAFP/PoolImage caption
Justin Trudeau raised the Garratt case with Chinese officials in August 2016
He believes that turn of events, combined with a visit to China by Justin Trudeau, during which the newly elected PM raised Kevin's
case, were instrumental in securing Kevin's release
He was deported to Canada in September 2016 after 775 days in detention, and reunited with Julia, who had left the country earlier that year
Meanwhile, Meng's case continues to strain China's ties with Canada and the US
Chinese officials have called her arrest a "serious mistake", accusing Canada of double standards and "Western egotism and white supremacy"
She is out on bail and under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns property
She is next due in court on 6 March, but the case could possibly drag on for years
It also comes amid growing scrutiny in Western countries over Huawei, which is a world leader in telecoms infrastructure, in particular the
next generation of mobile phone networks, known as 5G.Concern about the security of the company's technology has been growing,
particularly in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany, which fear its products could be used for spying, an allegation which Huawei
Amid the diplomatic dispute, Canada has worked to rally international allies to its corner
Earlier this month, over 140 diplomats - including Saint-Jacques - and academics signed an open letter to President Xi Jinping calling for
the release of Kovrig and Spavor
Canada also fired ambassador John McCallum on Sunday following controversial comments he made about Meng's extradition case
For the Garratts, despite the international significance of cases such as theirs, it's important to remember that individuals and their
families have got caught up in the dispute
That's the largest cost that's paid by the individuals that are directly implicated, unjustly implicated by these big things," she says
