China has arrested a third Canadian amid a diplomatic spat between Beijing and Ottawa over the arrest of a Chinese telecom executive, a Canadian official said Wednesday.
China has arrested a third Canadian amid a diplomatic spat between Beijing and Ottawa over the arrest of a Chinese telecom executive, a Canadian official said Wednesday.
« Global Affairs Canada is aware of a Canadian citizen detained in China, » ministry spokeswoman Maegan Graveline told AFP, without providing further details.
A government source said « there is no reason to believe that this case is linked to (two) other recent cases of Canadians detained in China. »
Earlier Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing that she had « not heard » about the detention, first reported by Canada’s National Post.
A recent portrait of Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou
-, Huawei.com/AFP
The recent detentions of a Canadian former diplomat and a Canadian entrepreneur have raised suspicions that Beijing is holding them in retaliation for Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou’s December 1 arrest, though no link has officially been made between the cases.
Meng was released on bail last week in Vancouver pending a US extradition hearing on US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran.
China has accused the other detainees — former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and China-based business consultant Michael Spavor — of activities « that endanger China’s national security » — a phrase often used by Beijing when alleging espionage.
They were both detained on December 10.
