Canadian detained in China as Huawei CFO due in court

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – A former Canadian diplomat has been detained in China, two sources said on Tuesday, just hours before a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies is set to return to a Vancouver courtroom for a bail hearing that has angered Beijing.

It was not immediately clear if the cases were related, but Canadian analysts had already predicted China would retaliate after the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at the request of US authorities.

The former diplomat is Michael Kovrig, who is based in China. He works for the International Crisis Group, which said it was seeking his prompt and safe release.

Canadian foreign ministry officials said they were not immediately able to confirm that Kovrig was in detention.

China has threatened severe consequences unless Canada releases Meng immediately. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the matter is one for the courts to decide.

Tuesday will be the third day of bail hearings in a British Columbia court, where a judge will weigh final issues in determining whether Meng should be freed on bail while awaiting extradition proceedings.

Meng, 46, faces US accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran, putting the banks at risk of violating US sanctions and incurring severe penalties, court documents said.

The judge on Monday rolled the proceedings over to Tuesday because he wanted to hear more from both sides about the issue of surety - who will take responsibility for Meng’s actions if she were released.

Meng’s lawyer David Martin had offered her husband as surety, but the judge and the public prosecutor questioned whether Liu Xiaozong, Meng’s husband, could perform this duty as he is not a resident of British Columbia and would not suffer if she were to breach her bail conditions.

Intent on getting Meng out of detention and into one of her two luxury homes in the city, defense lawyer Martin is offering up hi-tech surveillance devices and a 24-hour security detail to ensure his client does not flee.

He has also proposed a C$15 million ($11.3 million) bail guarantee and pledged Meng would hand over all her passports and travel documents to Canadian police, the court heard.