TORONTO (AP) \u2014 A former Canadian diplomat has been detained while visiting Beijing amid a dispute between the two counties over Canada\u2019s arrest of a Chinese executive at the request of\u2026<\/b>
\nBy ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) \u2014 A former Canadian diplomat has been detained while visiting Beijing amid a dispute between the two counties over Canada\u2019s arrest of a Chinese executive at the request of the United States.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale on Tuesday confirmed the detention and said Canada is very concerned.
Michael Kovrig, who previously worked as a diplomat in Beijing, Hong Kong and the United Nations, was taken into custody Monday night during one of his regular visits to Beijing, said the International Crisis Group, for which Kovrig now works as North East Asia adviser based in Hong Kong.
The detention came after China warned Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver\u2019s airport. A Canadian judge granted Meng bail Tuesday while she awaits possible extradition to the U. S.
\u201cWe\u2019re deeply concerned,\u201d Goodale said in response to a question about Kovrig. \u201cA Canadian is obviously in difficulty in China\u2026 We are sparing no effort to do everything we possibly can to look after his safety.\u201d
Goodale said there was no explicit indication at this point that it was related to the Meng arrest.
However, Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he had no doubt Kovrig was detained in relation to the arrest of the Huawei executive.
\u201cIn China there is no coincidence,\u201d he said. \u201cUnfortunately Canada is caught in the middle of this dispute between the U. S and China. Because China cannot kick the U. S. they turn to the next target.\u201d
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada\u2019s government has contacted Chinese officials about the detention. \u201cWe are engaged with the file (case), which we take very seriously,\u201d he said.
The International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization based in Brussels, said in a statement that it was doing everything possible to obtain additional information about Kovrig\u2019s whereabouts and that it would work to ensure his prompt release.
The organization said Kovrig has been one of its full-time experts since February 2017. Its website says Kovrig previously worked as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing and Hong Kong and at the United Nations.
Saint-Jacques, the former ambassador, said Kovrig was on leave from the embassy. He said Kovrig did deep political work when he was working for the embassy. That work would include travel and interviews with dissidents, he said.
\u201cIn China there\u2019s a very line between espionage and political reporting,\u201d he said.
Saint-Jacques said the department created a program 15 years ago so it would get more in-depth analysis. He noted that Kovrig was a former journalist whose embassy reports were well read in Ottawa.
Kovrig wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he had served as the political lead on a visit Trudeau made to Hong Kong in September 2016. He worked in Canada\u2019s consulate-general in Hong Kong at the time.
Former Canadian Liberal Party leader Bob Rae said it was clear why Kovrig had been detained.
\u201cIt\u2019s called repression and retaliation,\u201d Rae tweeted.
Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, said Chinese \u201cretaliation against Canadian interests or Canadians would be unacceptable and pointless.\u201d
\u201cIt would have zero impact on judicial proceedings in Canada,\u201d Paris tweeted. \u201cBeijing should already know this from previous experience. Let cooler heads prevail.\u201d
Jorge Guajardo, Mexico\u2019s former ambassador to China, said Canada needs to take dramatic action.
\u201cI\u2019d be summoning the entire Canadian consular Corp in China home for training. If that means they can\u2019t issue visas in the meantime, certainly the Chinese would understand. These are special times,\u201d he tweeted.
Hu Xijin, editor in chief of China\u2019s state-run newspaper Global Times, wrote on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo that there isn\u2019t any evidence Kovrig\u2019s detention was retaliation for Meng\u2019s arrest. But he added that the current situation was \u201chighly sensitive\u201d because of a \u201cAmerican-Canadian conspiracy\u201d to arrest Meng.
\u201cIf people in the rest of the world make this association, it\u2019s because Meng Wanzhou\u2019s arrest was really way over the line. Naturally, people would think that China would take revenge,\u201d Hu said.<\/p>\n