Second Canadian missing in China after questioning

OTTAWA — A second Canadian is missing in China after alerting foreign affairs officials that he was being questioned by Chinese authorities, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday.

The information comes mere days after the Beijing Bureau of State Security rounded up a Canadian diplomat, who is on a leave from his job, in a move that escalated an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the two countries.

Freeland told reporters Wednesday the government has been unable to make contact with the second Canadian since he raised concerns with officials. She said the government doesn’t know where the man is being detained, but has raised the case with Chinese authorities.

Freeland added that the government is in touch with the missing man’s family, but declined to say anything more about his case.

On Monday, China took Michael Kovrig into custody after Beijing warned Ottawa of severe consequences for its recent arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of tech giant Huawei.

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.

A senior government official said China confirmed to Canada very early Wednesday the Beijing Bureau of State Security had detained Kovrig. Ottawa, however, doesn’t know what the allegations against him are and does not know where he is, the official said.

The Beijing News has reported that Kovrig “was suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security.”

Kovrig’s former boss in China said he would have been under the close watch of Chinese authorities years ago as he travelled the country and talked to dissidents on behalf of Canada’s government.

He took on political-reporting assignments on highly sensitive subjects, said Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador in Beijing.

Saint-Jacques said Kovrig tried to “get the pulse” of many groups, such as displaced Tibetans scattered around China and Muslim minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused by the international community — including Canada — of mass detentions.

The former ambassador added that Chinese authorities have extensive files on all diplomats in China, especially those who, like Kovrig, speak fluent Mandarin.

Kovrig gave up diplomatic immunity when he took an unpaid leave of absence from Global Affairs Canada in late 2016 at the end of his posting.

A senior government official, briefing reporters Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said he remains a federal government employee.

Saint-Jacques said Kovrig, who served under him in China between 2014 and 2016, loved the country and chose to stay.

In February 2017, Kovrig continued reporting on some of the touchiest subjects involving China after he joined the International Crisis Group as an adviser.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day that the International Crisis Group, where Kovrig has been a Hong Kong-based analyst, is not registered in China and alleged its activities in the country are illegal.