China now holding two Canadians

BEIJING — A second Canadian man has been detained by Chinese officials, raising the stakes in a growing international dispute over a Chinese high-tech executive who was arrested in Canada and held for extradition to the United States.

Michael Spavor was taken into custody Monday after being questioned in the country’s northeast, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed Thursday. Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was taken into custody in Beijing the same day.

The arrests have raised tensions during a bruising trade war between the U.S. and China that has seen backand-forth tariffs slapped on billions of dollars in goods. The two sides have until a March 1 deadline to reach a deal to resolve the trade war, or steep new tariff increases will take effect, harming both economies and putting a brake on global growth.

Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of tech company Huawei and the daughter of one of China’s most prominent tech billionaires, Ren Zhengfei, infuriated Chinese officials. But Beijing’s tone has been noticeably more confrontational with Canada than with the U.S., which requested her arrest so that she could be extradited to face fraud charges related to U.S. sanctions on Iran. She was freed on bail Tuesday but ordered to surrender her passport and remain in Vancouver, where she has two homes.

Lu was vague when asked whether the men’s detainment was retaliation for Meng’s arrest.

“As for Canada’s wrongful detention of Ms. Meng WanAUSTIN,

zhou, we have made clear our position. As for these two Canadian citizens who have been taken compulsory measures by China’s state security authorities, I can assure you that the Chinese side will act in accordance with laws and regulations,” he said.

“The legal rights of the two Canadians are being safeguarded,” Lu told reporters at a daily briefing.

The two sides have taken pains this week to emphasize that their trade talks are entirely separate from the U.S. case against Meng and any retaliatory moves by Beijing.

Spavor was being investigated by the National Security Bureau on suspicion he carried out activities endangering China’s security, Lu said. He said Canada was informed but did not say whether the men have been charged or where they are being held.

Spavor, who runs a cultural exchange program with North Korea, has not been heard from since he contacted Canadian authorities to inform them he was being questioned.

“We have been unable to make contact [with Spavor] since he let us know he was being questioned by Chinese authorities,” said Canadian global affairs spokesman Guillaume Berube. “We are working very hard to ascertain his whereabouts, and we continue to raise this with the Chinese government.”

Confirmation that two Canadians are now in custody has added to suspicions that the men were targeted in retaliation for Ottawa’s role in Meng’s arrest. Chinese officials see the arrest as a part of efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to block Huawei’s advancement and to contain China’s rise as a major technological rival to the U.S.

Canadian officials maintain that Meng’s detention was simply a matter of legal process under the nation’s extradition treaty obligations. But Trump undercut Canada’s position Tuesday when he suggested Meng’s case could be used as a bargaining chip in the trade negotiations.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded sharply to Trump’s statements, saying, “Regardless of what goes on in other countries, Canada is, and will always remain, a country of the rule of law.”

The detentions echo that of another Canadian, Kevin Garratt, who was picked up in 2014 in what was seen as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Chinese spying suspect wanted in the United States. Garratt was held for 750 days in 2014-16 and sentenced to eight years in prison on spying charges but then deported.

The broadly defined national security charge encompasses both traditional espionage and other forms of information gathering such as interviewing dissidents and contacting nongovernmental organizations.

Spavor runs a cultural exchange program based in northeast China called Paektu Cultural Exchange that arranges sports and cultural tours to North Korea. He facilitated a visit by former NBA star Dennis Rodman to North Korea five years ago on his second trip and was present during Rodman’s 2013 visit to Kim Jong Un’s seaside retreat. Spavor is fluent in the Korean dialect spoken in North Korea.

Spavor posted Monday on social media that he would be arriving in Seoul for a few days but failed to arrive.

Kovrig is an analyst on northeast Asia for the International Crisis Group, a think tank, who took a leave of absence from the Canadian government. He lives in Hong Kong.

The editor of the stateowned Global Times newspaper, Hu Xijin, posted a video on the newspaper’s website Wednesday warning that China would “definitely take retaliatory measures against Canada” if it did not release Meng.

He said if Canada extradited Meng, “China’s revenge will be far worse than detaining a Canadian.”