CANADA GIVEN ACCESS TO DETAINED MAN IN CHINA.
Canada gets to access Kovrig in China, as tourism minister postpones trip
Canadian diplomats have been granted consular access to one of two Canadians detained in China.
A statement from Global Affairs Canada says Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum, met with former diplomat Michael Kovrig Friday in Beijing.
The department didn’t provide more details about the visit, citing privacy laws.
Canadian officials are still pressing China for access to Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor, who is also being detained.
Chinese authorities arrested Kovrig and Spavor on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China.
The arrests came days after Canada detained a top Chinese business executive sought by the United States on fraud charges.
“Canadian consular officials continue to provide consular services to him and his family and will continue to seek further access to Mr. Kovrig,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Canada continues to press for consular access to Michael Spavor.”
Earlier Friday, Tourism Minister Melanie Joly announced she won’t go to China to mark the end of a special year of tourism exchanges, as relations between the two countries continued to plummet. The decision puts the breaks on a major Sino-Canadian initiative meant to deepen ties between the countries.
The cancellation follows Canada’s arrest - at the U.S.’s behest - of a leading Chinese telecom executive and Beijing’s apparent retaliation by detaining two Canadians. “Canada and China mutually agreed to postpone the CanadaChina Year of Tourism Closing Ceremony and Minister Joly’s planned travel to China. Both governments agreed this would allow us to better achieve our shared objectives,” Joly’s spokesman Jeremy Ghio said Friday.
What those shared objectives are, he didn’t specify.
“We look forward to meeting again to continue building peopleto people ties and strengthening the tourism relationship between Canada and China - a relationship that creates good jobs for middle class families and opportunities for people in both countries,” Ghio said.