The detentions of three Canadian citizens appear to be retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a top Chinese executive at the behest of the Trump administration.
WASHINGTON — The Chinese government has detained a third Canadian citizen, escalating a diplomatic crisis in which it is pushing the United States to relent on legal pressure against one of China’s leading technology companies.
Canadian consular officials are providing assistance to the family of the latest detainee, a spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, the country’s Foreign Ministry, said on Wednesday. The spokesman declined to identify the detainee or provide more details.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a regularly scheduled news conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the ministry had no information on the case.
Chinese security agencies detained two other Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on Dec. 10. Chinese officials have suggested in public comments that the agencies are looking into potential national security charges.
But by all appearances, the detentions appear to be retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, the giant Chinese technology company, on Dec. 1, as Ms. Meng was in transit in Vancouver between Hong Kong and Mexico.
Ms. Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was arrested at the behest of the United States. At her bail hearing, a Canadian official said Ms. Meng had been accused by the Americans of tricking banks into transactions involving Huawei-controlled entities that violated United States sanctions against Iran.
Ms. Meng is out on bail now. A court is expected to rule whether Canada will extradite her to the United States.
The Chinese government has said Ms. Meng is being wrongfully held and should be released immediately, and has accused the United States of pursuing Ms. Meng for political purposes.
The Canadian government has not publicly drawn any links between the detentions of the Canadians and the arrest of Ms. Meng.
But on Dec. 13, the Chinese ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, explicitly tied the actions when he wrote in an op-ed in the Globe and Mail: “Those who accuse China of detaining some person in retaliation for the arrest of Ms.
