For almost three years, two Canadian men, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were held prisoner in a Chinese jail. They were charged with espionage. Their arrests came just 10 days after Canada detained a Chinese citizen, Meng Wanzhou, at Vancouver airport at the request of the United States. Meng, who acted as chief financial officer for tech giant Huawei, is also the daughter of its billionaire founder. The U.S., which imposes restrictions on activities with Iran, wanted her extradited for facilitating trade with the country. While Meng served out her time in her mansion in Vancouver, the two Canadians survived in tiny windowless cells - pawns in a game of hostage diplomacy.

From the Curio channel: News in Review.