China detains another Canadian
BEIJING: China on Thursday confirmed it has detained two Canadian men, raising the stakes in a three-way international dispute over the case of a top Chinese telecom executive facing possible extradition from Canada to the US.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody on Monday on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China.
Lu said Canada was informed about the detentions, but declined to say whether the men have been provided with lawyers.
He said the cases are being handled by local bureaus of the national intelligence agency in Beijing, where Kovrig was picked up, and the northeastern city of Dandong, where Spavor had been living.
“The legal rights of the two Canadians are being safeguarded,” Lu told reporters.
The two cases ratchet up pressure on Canada, which is holding Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies. She was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 and released on bail. The US has requested her extradition to face charges of bank fraud.
Canadian officials have not been able to contact Spavor “since he let us know he was being questioned by Chinese authorities”, Canadian Global Affairs spokesman Guillaume Berube said on Wednesday.
Kovrig is an analyst on northeast Asia for the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
Spavor runs tours of North Korea along with sports, business and other exchanges through his company.