U.S. ambassador: Arrests of Canadians in China unacceptable. TORONTO»

The U.S. ambassador to Canada said Saturday her country is “deeply concerned” about China’s “unlawful” detention of two Canadians.

Ambassador Kelly Craft said in a statement to The Associated Press that the arrests of ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor are “unacceptable” and urged China to end the arbitrary detentions. It was her first public comments on the cases.

China detained the two Canadians on Dec. 10 in an apparent attempt to pressure Canada to release Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities.

Meng is the chief financial officer of the Chinese tech giant Huawei and the daughter of its founder.