Fears raised over second Canadian missing in China
Ottawa lost contact after man said he was questioned by authorities
OTTAWA— The Canadian government has not warned Canadians against travelling to or within China, even as a second Canadian citizen appears to be in trouble in that country.
A Canadian man, later identified by Global Affairs as Michael Spavor, contacted Canadian officials in Beijing to flag his concern over being questioned by Chinese authorities, but Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada has since lost contact with him.
The latest development fuels an international furor that has erupted over Canada’s arrest of a high-profile Chinese executive, Meng Wanzhou, at the behest of the Americans — an extradition request that Freeland warned should not be politicized by the U.S. — and has grown since China’s apparent tit-for-tat detention this week of a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing.
In response to a reporter’s question Wednesday, Freeland acknowledged the Canadian government has been trying to reconnect with a second Canadian man whom she did not identify at the time.
The government later confirmed the missing individual is Michael Spavor, a Canadian whose company brings tourists and hockey players into North Korea, and who helped arrange a visit there by former NBA player Dennis Rodman. During that trip, Spavor met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“We are aware that a Canadian citizen, Mr. Michael Spavor, is presently missing in China,” said Global Affairs spokesperson Guillaume Bérubé.
“We are aware of a Canadian who got in touch with us because he was being asked questions by Chinese authorities,” Freeland said. “We have not been able to make contact with him since he let us know about this. We are working very hard to ascertain his whereabouts.”
Freeland offered no further details at first, saying only that it is a “personal situation” and “perhaps delicate,” and she wanted to respect the individual’s privacy, adding she had been in touch with the Canadian’s family.
David Mulroney, a former ambassador to China, said Canada needs more facts but added: “If indeed a second Canadian has been detained by the Chinese, we need to clearly advise Canadians of the increased risks associated with being in China.”
The U.S. effort to extradite Meng in connection with an alleged fraud to do an end-run around sanctions against doing business with Iran took on a dramatically politicized overtone after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would consider intervening in the move to have the Huawei executive extradited from Canada — a request his government initiated months ago — if it would help advance U.S. trade talks with China.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had earlier brushed off Trump’s extraordinary boast.
“Regardless of what goes on in other countries, Canada is and will always remain a country with the rule of law,” Trudeau told reporters Wednesday, as alarm grew over Kovrig’s arrest.
China officially notified Canada of Kovrig’s detention by a fax sent to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing in the early hours of Wednesday morning Eastern time. That would have been evening Wednesday in Beijing, two days after Kovrig was arrested Monday night. Canadian officials noted that Ottawa notified China of Meng’s arrest the day it happened, and granted consular access that same day as well.
However, the Chinese authorities have not said why Kovrig was arrested, what charges he faces, and have given no direct indication to Canada that the arrest was in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng, Freeland said.
The Chinese Embassy has not returned the Star’s requests for comment.
Kovrig was on special leave to work with a non-governmental organization in Hong Kong, does not have diplomatic status, yet is considered to still be an employee of the department.
“It adds another layer to the concern,” admitted Freeland. She said the government has a special duty of care to its own employees, but it is “agonizing” when any Canadian is detained outside Canada.
Canadian officials who briefed reporters said Meng’s arrest provoked such a storm of “anti-Canadian sentiment” and pro- test on official Chinese state media, on social media channels and in emails to the Canadian Embassy that Canada asked Beijing to beef up security around its embassy in the capital, and its consulate offices in Hong Kong, Chongqing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Canada’s arrest of Meng on Dec. 1 triggered outrage in Beijing, which demanded her immediate release and threatened Canada with “grave consequences.”
China hauled in the Canadian ambassador to Beijing, John McCallum, on Saturday and the U.S. ambassador, Terry Branstad, on Sunday to protest the U.S. extradition request, calling Meng’s arrest “lawless, reasonless and ruthless, and … extremely vicious.”
Lu Kang, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday the International Crisis Group, where Kovrig works as a Hong Kong-based analyst, is not registered in China and its activities in the country are illegal, and repeated Beijing’s demand: “Our request is very clear, that is, the Canadian side should immediately release the detained Ms. Meng Wanzhou and to protect her legitimate rights and interests.”
Meng was released on strict bail conditions Tuesday while she awaits a formal extradition hearing in Canadian courts in the months ahead.
The U.S. has two months to present its case to Canadian prosecutors, who then have an- other month to decide whether they should bring the U.S. case to an extradition hearing before a B.C. Superior Court judge.
Freeland confirmed Kovrig’s detention came at the hands of the Beijing Bureau of State Security, while the Chinese news agency Beijing News reported he was arrested for violating national security, a much more serious charge than working for an illegally registered group.
But Kovrig’s employer, the International Crisis Group, denied he was engaged in anything other than above-board research and reporting, and moved decisively to put distance between Kovrig and his past work as a Canadian diplomatic employee.
It said Kovrig “has been a fulltime and highly respected expert for Crisis Group since February 2017.
“Though a former Canadian diplomat, he no longer works for the Canadian government and is employed solely by Crisis Group.” ICG says it is “concerned for his health and safety.”
In an email to the Star, ICG spokesperson Karim Lebhour said China’s allegation that the organization was in violation of registration laws “is the first time we hear such an accusation from the Chinese authorities in a decade of working with China.”
He said ICG originally opened its office in China in 2007 after consultations with the Foreign Ministry.
“We closed our Beijing operations in December 2016 because of the new Chinese NGO law and have been trying to formalize our status since then. Michael Kovrig has been working from Hong Kong which is not subject to the same law,” Lebhour wrote.
“Michael regularly visits Beijing to meet officials, attend conferences at the invitation of Chinese organizations, and on personal visits. He frequently appears on Chinese television and other media to comment on regional issues.”
ICG describes itself as “an independent organization that conducts field research and offers policy recommendations to help end deadly conflicts worldwide.”
It noted that its board of trustees included prominent figures from the highest levels of government, business and philanthropic institutions from more than 30 countries, two of whom are Chinese: Hu Shuli, founder and publisher of Caixin Media, and Wang Jisi, president of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University. In a written statement Wednesday, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said it would be inappropriate for her to comment on the Meng case since the decision on whether to surrender Meng to the U.S. would “ultimately” fall to her if the B.C. Superior Court finds the extradition request is in order.