The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) joined many other Canadians in welcoming two fellow citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, back home after they were released from China.
The gesture prompted some cackles online due to the irony of a spy agency welcoming people who were accused by Beijing of espionage, especially given that Canada actively denied these accusations.
"Welcome home, #Michaels", CSIS tweeted, using the viral hashtag dedicated to the release of the two. "CSIS joins all Canadians in welcoming you back to Canada".
Even though the greeting by CSIS does not automatically make someone a spy, users still laughed about the optics that the tweet could imply.
One user even made a reference to a classic animated series about spies.
Some people apparently were even more serious than others.
The two Michaels were accused of espionage in Beijing, with Chinese authorities detaining them in 2018 shortly after the arrest of Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou.
Many saw the move as retaliation for the arrest of Wanzhou, who, for her part, faced fraud charges in 2018 at the request of the United States, with Washington believing that she had been circumventing American sanctions. China, infuriated by the arrest of the Huawei CFO, nevertheless denied that the conviction of the two Michaels - both of whom had spent 1,000 days in detention before their release - was in any way connected with the case.
Both Kovrig and Spavor left China on Friday. Wanzhou, in turn, has also left Canada. This follows the US Department of Justice (DOJ) saying it had reached a deferred prosecution agreement, meaning that Washington will refrain from prosecuting her until December 2022.