Details revealed on detention of two Canadians

One is a former diplomat; both arrested this month.

The ex-Canadian diplomat detained in China this month as Beijing fumed over the arrest of a Huawei Technologies executive is being denied a lawyer and limited to one consular visit a month, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The conditions are among the first details of Michael Kovrig’s detention since Dec. 10, when China’s spy agency took the International Crisis Group senior adviser into custody. The case, along with that of another Canadian citizen detained on the same day, have plunged Canada’s ties with its second-largest trading partner into crisis.

Kovrig is being held at a secret detention facility where he’s questioned three times a day and unable to turn off the light, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the case. He’s been allowed one 30-minute visit by Canadian Ambassador John McCallum in Beijing, during which he appeared stressed but unharmed, the person said.

“The Chinese side protects the legitimate rights and interests of Michael Kovrig and also helped facilitate the Canadian side’s efforts to fulfill their consular duties,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Friday. Canadian Global Affairs, the country’s foreign service, declined to comment.

Much at stake

The conditions of Kovrig’s confinement underscore the personal stakes of a diplomatic feud that erupted after Canada’s arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou earlier this month as part of a U.S.-led extradition effort. China’s Ministry of State Security detained Kovrig and North Korea travel guide Michael Spavor just days later, leading to speculation that the investigations were part of a campaign of reprisal.

The cases have reverberated through China’s community of foreign diplomats, business consultants, journalists and non-profit workers, many of whom operate in a legal gray area. Executives from both sides of the U.S.’s trade war with China have been reconsidering unessential traveling since the spat began.

Meng — the daughter of the telecommunications company’s founder — was released on bail Sunday, pending extradition proceedings that could last months, if not years.

China’s foreign ministry has said Kovrig and Spavor were “suspected of activities endangering national security,” allowing authorities to hold them for as long as six months without charge or access to a lawyer. Crisis Group, Kovrig’s current employer, has said there was nothing secretive about his work, which involved writing public reports designed to prevent conflict.

While it’s unclear whether the Kovrig and Spavor cases are related, both men belong to a small community of experts in China’s ties with North Korea and were detained on the same day. Kovrig was picked up off a Beijing street at 10 p.m. Dec 10, the person said.