A Canadian Christian couple, who had been arrested on charges of stealing intelligence information and endangering China's security, is currently being investigated by Chinese officials.
The couple, identified as Kevin Garratt, 54, and Julia Dawn Garratt, 53, was running a coffee shop called Peter's Coffee Shop in Dandong. According to the Globe and Mail, they had been living in China since 1984 and opened the coffee shop in 2008. The coffee shop served Western food and also featured weekly discussion group sessions during which Chinese students can practice their English.
Dandong, the city where the coffee shop is located, is known to be a key stop off point for North Korean traders and officials because of its location right near the Chinese-Korean Friendship Bridge and the Yalu River. Kevin Garratt, who is also a pastor, said during a church service at British Columbia once that God had called them to go there.
"God said, in a prayer meeting, go to Dandong and I'll meet you there, and he said start a coffee house," he explained. "We're trying to reach North Korea with God, with Jesus, and with practical assistance," quoted the New York Times.
Since their move to Dandong, they have been working together with North Star Aid, a humanitarian group dedicated to sending food to North Korea, to send clothes, kimchi, soy milk, and other aid to North Koreans. They also have been operating a special training house for North Koreans who crossed the border to help them get adjusted.
"99 percent of the people we meet go back to North Korea, because they have to preach the gospel in North Korea, because God has compelled them to go," Kevin Garrett said, describing the North Koreans he met to his church in British Columbia.
Peter Garratt, one of four children of the Garrett couple, said that although they visit North Korea, they have been aware of the religious restrictions, and made "it very clear they're just trying to do humanitarian work."
To him, the charges came out of nowhere. "It sounds ridiculous. Military secrets? It sounds like something out of a movie or something. Those are the accusations, but I have no idea where they are coming from or how it even came about," he explained in an interview with CBC News.
Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in China, expressed similar thoughts in regard to China's accusations. "The idea that foreigners are spies and therefore should be dealt with severely hasn't had prominence in China for some time. But certainly under the new leadership, the Communist Party is less sympathetic to Western notions of rule of law," he explained to the New York Times.
The charges against them have a maximum penalty of death, according to the Globe and Mail.
