China to hold court hearings for Canadian detainees accused of spying -Canadian statement

OTTAWA, March 17 (Reuters) - Two Canadians detained by Beijing more than two years ago on suspicion of espionage will go before Chinese courts starting this week, and Ottawa is "deeply troubled" by the lack of transparency surrounding the hearings, Canada said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Our embassy in Beijing has been notified that court hearings for Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig are scheduled to take place on March 19 and March 22, respectively," Canada's foreign minister, Marc Garneau, said in the statement.

"We believe these detentions are arbitrary, and remain deeply troubled by the lack of transparency surrounding these proceedings," Garneau added.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Leslie Adler)

((steve.scherer@thomsonreuters.com; +1-647-480-7889;))