Second Canadian detained
Entrepreneur, former diplomat being held on suspicion of ‘endangering national security’
Two Canadian men have been detained in China on suspicion of “endangering national security,” the country’s foreign ministry said Thursday.
Spokesman Lu Kang confirmed that entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody on Monday and that they are being handled separately.
Canada has been informed of the detentions, Lu said, but declined to say whether the men have been provided with lawyers.
The two cases ratchet up pressure on Canada, which is holding an executive of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
China has demanded the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO and the daughter of its founder.
Meng was arrested in Canada earlier this month at the request of the United States, which is hoping to have her extradited over allegations she tried to bypass American trade sanctions on Iran and lied to U.S. banks about her actions.
Asked if the Canadian men’s detentions were related to Meng’s arrest, Lu said they were being handled according to Chinese law.
The Chinese official’s comments come hours after Global Affairs Canada confirmed that Spavor, the founder of a non-profit that organizes cultural-exchange trips to North Korea, was the second Canadian to be detained in China.
“We are working very hard to ascertain his whereabouts and we continue to raise this with the Chinese government,” Global Affairs spokesman Guillaume Berube confirmed in an email Wednesday night.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters the government has been unable to make contact with Spavor — whom she did not identify at the time — since he raised concerns about being questioned by Chinese authorities.
Freeland added that Ottawa has been touch with his family, but declined to say anything more about his situation.
“It’s a situation that’s, perhaps, delicate,” she said in French.
“And I want to respect this individual and his family.”